Intimate Partner Violence Among Sexual Minorities in Japan: Exploring Perceptions and Experiences

Abstract

Using qualitative interviews (n = 39) and participant observation (n = 54), this study documents perceptions and experiences of violence between lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex intimate partners in Japan, thereby providing exploratory, formative data on a previously unexamined issue. Results indicate that intimate partner violence (IPV) is experienced physically, sexually, and psychologically in all sexual minority groups. Participants perceived the violence to be: a) very similar to heterosexual IPV against women; b) more likely perpetrated and experienced by lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender persons compared to gay and bisexual men and intersex persons; c) the cause of several negative physical and mental health outcomes; and d) largely unrecognized in both sexual minority communities and broader Japanese society.