Inter-sibling violence as a mechanism of hegemony: retrospective accounts from a non-binary and LGBTQ+ sample in the United States

Abstract

Gender-based violence refers to the violence that gendered individuals, typically women and girls, experience due to patriarchal systems of inequality which position woman and girls as objects of discipline and control. One patriarchal system, the nuclear family, is particularly prone to gender inequality and thus violence. This article engages in a theory-building exercise to explain the gendering of violence as it occurs within inter-sibling relationships. More specifically, it posits that inter-sibling violence serves as a mechanism of heteromasculine hegemony. The authors analysed the retrospective accounts of 31 non-binary and LGBTQ+ individuals’ experiences with inter-sibling violence, focusing on gender within the family in the United States. Data suggest that women and non-binary assigned female at birth (AFAB) individuals are at greater risk for inter-sibling violence than men, although those assigned male at birth (AMAB) may also be at risk if they exhibit subordinate masculinities in childhood. The study highlights how gender-based violence permeates throughout family relationships, including those between siblings.