Lesbian Visibility Day is often marked by celebration, pride and affirmation. It honours histories of resistance, love and community. Yet, visibility must also include the realities that are more difficult to acknowledge. For many lesbian, bisexual and trans women, violence is part of life, not an exception. It is simply less likely to be recognised, believed or acted upon.
In the UK, domestic abuse in relationships between women remains widely misunderstood. Public narratives continue to frame abuse almost exclusively through a heterosexual lens, reinforcing assumptions that obscure LBTQ experiences. This limited understanding contributes directly to failures in protection, risk assessment and access to support. On this Lesbian Visibility Day, recognising this reality is necessary.
Evidence consistently shows that lesbian, bisexual and trans women experience domestic abuse at rates comparable to or higher than cisgender heterosexual women. Stonewall research found that, in a twelve-month period, 10% of lesbian women reported experiencing domestic abuse from a partner. This increased to 13% for bisexual women and to 19% for trans and non-binary respondents.
Bisexual women face the highest documented risk of domestic abuse among all groups of women studied in the UK. Research shows they are significantly more likely to experience abuse than both heterosexual and lesbian women. This heightened risk is further compounded by biphobia and by institutional practices that erase bisexual identity, particularly when abusive partners are male.
These figures are likely to underestimate the true scale of abuse. Under reporting remains widespread due to fear of discrimination, lack of culturally competent services and limited opportunities for safe disclosure. Data collection on sexuality and gender identity also remains inconsistent across statutory systems.
One of the most significant barriers faced by LBTQ survivors is the failure of institutions to recognise abuse in same sex relationships. Police and statutory responses are often shaped by rigid frameworks that prioritise visible physical injury and rely on stereotypical assumptions about gender and power.
As a result, abuse between women is frequently misclassified as relationship conflict or mutual violence rather than identified as coercive control. In some cases, both women are recorded as both victim and perpetrator. This leads to the downgrading of risk and restricts access to protection, refuge spaces and justice.
Risk assessment tools such as DASH remain influenced by cis heteronormative assumptions and focus heavily on physical harm. This helps explain why fewer than 1% of MARAC cases are estimated to involve LGBT+ survivors, despite substantially higher prevalence of domestic abuse within these communities.
For LBTQ women, domestic abuse often includes forms of coercive control that target identity directly. Survivors report threats of being outed, deliberate misgendering, denial of sexual or gender identity, and isolation from LGBTQ+ communities.
These tactics strike at the core of a survivor’s sense of self and safety. Yet they remain poorly understood within mainstream domestic abuse responses and are rarely captured effectively by existing risk assessment tools.
Trans women face particularly severe and compounded forms of abuse. UK studies suggest extremely high lifetime exposure to domestic abuse among trans people, with estimates varying widely depending on methodology. Abuse frequently involves control over medical transition, housing insecurity and exclusion from women only services, compounded by transphobia within both intimate relationships and institutional settings.
Violence against lesbian does not occur only within intimate partnerships. For many, the family itself is a primary site of abuse. Lesbophobia within the family can involve emotional abuse, coercion, threats, rejection, surveillance and in some cases physical violence. This abuse is often rooted in refusal to accept sexual orientation and attempts to enforce heterosexual norms.
Family members may isolate lesbians women from support networks, restrict access to housing or finances, or exert pressure to conceal their identity. In some cases, survivors are forced to choose between homelessness and silence. For migrant lesbian, particularly those from contexts where homosexuality is criminalised or heavily stigmatised, family rejection and violence can be especially severe.
Although family-based abuse is a recognised form of violence against women and girls, it is rarely addressed explicitly within domestic abuse frameworks as it affects lesbians. This further contributes to invisibility and leaves many survivors without appropriate routes to safety and support.
Domestic abuse does not occur in isolation from broader structures of inequality. Black and racialised LBTQ women report higher prevalence of domestic abuse and face additional barriers including racism within services, distrust of authorities and immigration related coercion.
For migrant and asylum seeking LBTQ women, abusive partners or family members may use threats of deportation or restriction of access to housing and welfare as tools of control. For many survivors, returning to their country of origin is not possible due to criminalisation, homophobia or transphobia.
Disabled LBTQ women face heightened risks linked to dependency. Abuse may involve control over care, medication, mobility or housing, particularly where a partner or family member also acts as a carer. Inaccessible refuges and support services significantly limit escape options. Poverty and housing insecurity further entrench vulnerability, affecting an estimated 18% of LGBT+ people in the UK.
Within this national context, the work of Latin American Women’s Aid is vital. In 2018, LAWA secured funding to establish a specialist service for lesbian, bisexual and trans women, responding directly to the absence of inclusive and culturally competent support.
LAWA’s LBTQ+ Outreach Project supports Latin American and global majority women experiencing violence from partners, families and communities. Many survivors face overlapping challenges related to migration status, language barriers and systemic discrimination. Through specialist advocacy, refuge provision, migration support and community engagement, LAWA ensures survivors are not forced to choose between violence and destitution.
Data from Latin American Women’s Aid’s 2024 Annual Report shows that 5% of survivors supported identified as LBTQ+. Within this group, the largest proportion identified as bisexual, followed by lesbian and queer women. These figures highlight the importance of specialist and inclusive domestic abuse services.
Lesbian Visibility Day must go beyond symbolic recognition. Visibility that does not include safety leaves survivors behind. Acknowledging violence in the lives of lesbian, bisexual and trans women strengthens LGBTQ+ communities and affirms a collective commitment to relationships, families and communities free from abuse.
LAWA remains committed to challenging exclusionary narratives, advocating for inclusive services and ensuring that LBTQ women can access dignity, protection and justice.
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