A new study shows that one in five urban gay men is battered by his partner, showing that homosexual men are just as likely as heterosexual women to be victims of domestic violence. This study, the first of its kind, appears in the December issue of American Journal of Public Health.

"While decades of research has yielded valuable information about violence among heterosexual partners, until now very little has been known about violence among same-sex partners," said Michael Relf, assistant professor at Georgetown University's School of Nursing and Health Studies and a lead author of the study. "This study shatters the myth that men are able to protect themselves from violence perpetuated by other men. We now know that domestic violence is an equal opportunity epidemic."

The study also showed that HIV-positive men, as well as men 40 years or younger, were more likely to be abused.

"Perhaps the most startling and disturbing finding was that being HIV-positive increases the likelihood of being physically battered," said Relf. "Many men in the study were subjected to physical and emotional violence after telling their partners they had been diagnosed with HIV. Tragically, men who rely on abusive partners for financial support often are forced to make the impossible choice between violence and homelessness."

Relf and his colleagues surveyed 2,881 gay men in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Chicago. (This sample included not only men who identified themselves as gay, but also bisexual men and men who identified themselves as heterosexual but who nevertheless have sex with other men.) Participants underwent a comprehensive phone interview of an average duration of 75 minutes, a length of time which is "virtually unheard of in telephone-based, scientific studies," according to Relf.

Relf points out that a number of factors contribute to a lack of support system for gay men who are physically abused including a lack of safe places for abused men other than homeless shelters; police forces that are ill-equipped to handle male-male domestic violence complaints; and a medical community not trained to ask the questions that would unveil a path of violence.

Little scientific study has been done in the past on the issue of gay domestic violence. In seven previous studies, methodology has been limited by using only people who identify themselves as gay, using very small samples, and interviewing people from gay enclaves where gay-identified men are more likely to live and socialize. Relf and his colleagues utilized sophisticated sampling methods including census data, mailing lists, and zip code overlays to find a much more diverse and statistically meaningful study group.

Source: Georgetown University Medical Center press release

Anti-Violence Group Questions study
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has expressed concern about the results of the study conducted by the Georgetown University's School of Nursing and Health Studies citing the lack of racial diversity, flawed basis of comparison with heterosexual women, among others.

In a letter to the Georgetown researchers, the NCAVP said it was concerned "about the efficacy of the study," reports 365Gay.com.

"In several key areas, the research was ill-conceived and ill-executed," said Rachel Baum, NCAVP's National Coordinator of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Programs.

"The sample was astoundingly lacking in racial diversity; the survey implementation method didn't take the safety of the participants into account, and an analytical comparison to data about heterosexual women had a flawed basis for comparison.

"The study, which included interviews with men in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco used a sample which was virtually 80% white while the 2000 US census shows that the average percentage of individuals identified as 'white' (non-Latino) in these four cities is almost half of that at 41%," said Baum.

Although Baum said the study shows there is the need for more research on same-sex domestic violence and those in the field of LGBT domestic violence services are hungry for scientific data that will help reinforce the weight of this issue, the recent study "only adds more questions and undermines the issue through its faulty construction."