A Place to Belong: Building Capacity for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Organizations to Nurture Inclusion & Belonging Among LGBT+ Identified Youth Survivors

Background & Purpose:

Due to structural and systemic discrimination and bias, youth that identify as LGBT+ experience disproportionally high rates of teen dating violence (TDV) in their dating relationships. For example, 42.8% of LGBT+ youth reported experiencing physical forms of abuse, and 59.2% have reported psychological forms of aggression. Despite high incidences of abuse, evidence suggests that teens are hesitant to access formal services, because of prior experiences of stigma and discrimination in community and school settings. Although inclusive organizational practices at domestic violence and sexual assault (DV/SA) organizations are critical for promoting resilience, evidence suggests that youth are underserved. The purpose of this presentation is to describe domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA) agencies’ organizational practices, community and digital outreach modalities, and programmatic offerings related to serving LGBT+ youth.

Methods:

This qualitative study involves with key informant interviews with organizational representatives at DV/SA organizations (n=35) across the United States. Purposive and theoretical sampling was employed to solicit diverse representation among research participants. Data analysis involved the use of traditional thematic content analysis methods and involved multiple rounds of inductive coding.

Results:

Across the sample, nearly 40% of participants reported that their organizations had no formalized practices to serve LGBT+ youth IPV survivors’ and described “a need to do more.” Of participants that identified some degree of organizational capacity to serve and affirm LGBT+ youth IPV survivors, eight themes were constructed. These themes include: 1. Creating identity-specific groups; 2. Integrating inclusive language and visible displays of solidarity; 3. Examining internal policies and decentering heteronormativity; 4.) Practicing humility by learning from the lived experiences of service users; 5.) Normalizing the use of pronouns agency-wide; 6.) Referring to and partnering with LGBT-specific agencies; and 7.) Using digital technologies and social media for youth outreach.

Discussion & Implications:

All service providers, including DV/SA organizations, play a critical role in implementing community-wide practices to combat stigma and promote well-being among youth that identify as LGBT+. This study found promising examples of efforts to nurture inclusive organizational cultures, however, this was inconsistent across organizations. These results underscore critical areas of needed programmatic development including incorporating intersectional feminist and queer theories and elevating strengths-based portrayals of LBTQ+ relationships, resilience, and thriving. Specific strategies to increase organizational capacity and increase youth’s access to services will be discussed.