Abstract
LGBTI+ people are victims of different forms of violence all over the world, from situations of hate, discrimination, LGBTI+ phobic bullying, domestic violence, and even violence within intimate relationships. A large part of this violence sends a message to the community: a message of intolerance and non-acceptance. These are acts that undermine the dignity and identity of the victims. This chapter therefore aims to specify these forms of violence, outlining and understanding the differential impact that violence has on LGBTI+ victims. At the same time, it seeks to list some measures that can contribute to combating or reducing the occurrence of this violence.
TopGender norms are socially constructed, learned, and transmitted, varying culturally and historically. These norms are unwritten rules about acceptable and ideal forms of conduct and behaviour and will influence the attitudes of individuals in their family and intimate relationships (Carman et al., 2021). Furthermore, these norms influence the way society sees and acts towards the LGBTI+ community, feeling legitimized to exclude and marginalize anyone who is part of this population.
Gender and gender inequality are constructed based on the assumption that “real” men and women are necessarily heterosexual. Thus, LGB, trans and gender diverse people challenge the assumptions that support a binary and heterogeneous system of the model of the relationship between sex, gender, and sexuality. At the same time, they can threaten to expose patriarchy and the heterosexist foundations that sustain situations of violence. Also, gender norms are reinforced by the idea that the only “normal” and “natural” bodies/sexes and gender identities are “male” and “female”. Binary gender norms are, therefore, associated with the cisnormativity that drives violence against trans and gender diverse people, and in some cases, motivates medical interventions aimed at “normalizing” intersex bodies (Carman et al., 2021).
Due to the existence of a highly heterosexist and cisnormative society, a large proportion of LGBTI+ people live within a triad of invisibility, isolation and social insult, with each vertex feeding the other. The social insult emerges within a heterosexist and heteronormative society that excludes and discriminates against all people who do not fit into this social standard. By way of example, it includes “any individual perceived not to conform to prevailing norms about gender (such as physical appearance, choice of clothing, mannerisms) or sexuality (emotional and physical attraction to others) or sex characteristics” (Magić & Selun, 2018, pp.17). This insult is culturally internalized and transmitted generationally. It is based on stereotypes and preconceived ideas that legitimize the perpetuation of these discriminatory behaviours and attitudes. Growing up in a society where social insults are legitimized, coming out and asserting one's identity can be difficult steps, contributing to people remaining invisible. This invisibility, in turn, increases the isolation of these people, especially if there is no strong and cohesive informal support network to serve as a back-up.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Outing: The act or threat of publicly revealing that a person is LGBTI+ without that person's consent as a form of manipulation used by the aggressor towards the victim, often within abusive intimate relationships.
Gender Expression: Is the way a person expresses themselves publicly through clothing, hairstyle, body language, choice of name, preferred pronouns, among other things.
Cisnormativity: When it is assumed that people should identify, in terms of gender, with the sex assigned to them at birth.
Gender Identity: It refers to personal self-recognition as a man or woman, as both, or as trans, regardless of the sex assigned at birth. It is even possible that there is no identification with any gender. Gender identity is something intimate that is only public knowledge if the person reveals it.
LGBTI+phobic Bullying: Repeated and intentional situations of violence directed at LGBTI+ people due to their (real or perceived) belonging to that group, motivated by prejudice towards that population.
Heterosexism: Ideological system that stigmatizes any non-heterosexual form of behaviour, identity, or relationship.
Biological Sex: Classification system based on an individual’s genotypic or phenotypic characteristics. Individuals can generally be classified as male, female, or intersex.
Hate Crime: Criminal acts based on hatred, in this case, due to sexual characteristics, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. In Portugal, for a situation to be classified as a hate crime, that situation must be classified as a crime in Portuguese Penal Code and it must be proven that the crime was committed for reasons of hate.
Discrimination: Unequal and unfair behaviour, attitudes and/or forms of treatment based, in this case, on sexual characteristics, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. In situations of discrimination, victims are deprived of their human rights.
LGBTI+: L (Lesbian); G (Gay); B (Bisexual); T (Trans); I (Intersex); + (To include all other gender identities and sexual orientations).
Gender: Social construction resulting from the expectations that are created regarding what it means to be a “man” and to be a “woman”. For each category, expectations are created regarding characteristics, roles and expressions. Although the concept of gender traditionally refers to gender roles within a binary system (male/female), the concept of gender also includes non-binary gender expressions/identities.
Sexual Orientation: Linked to the affective part, refers to the person to whom we feel affectionately and/or sexually attracted. It includes sexual attraction, emotional involvement, sexual practices, and sexual identity.
Internalized LGBTI+phobia: When the negative view of the LGBTI+ community is internalized and reproduced by people in the community themselves.
Hate Speech: All forms of expression that incite, promote or justify hatred, in this case, based on sexual characteristics, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. These forms of expression that give rise to hatred are based on prejudices and stereotypes.
Coming Out: Is the process of understanding, accepting and revealing their gender identity and/or sexual orientation. Cis and heterosexual people do not have to go through this process, as the unspoken social norm is that all people are cis and heterosexual.
Intersex: Describes the multiplicity of bodies and sexual characteristics that do not fit the traditional definition of male or female sex, and this variety, which is perfectly natural, may or may not be visible.
Secondary Victimization or Revictimization: Occurs when violence is reiterated and continued at the state level, institutions or through people who provide services. In these cases, the victim suffers violence continuously, not as a direct result of the act of violence suffered, but due to the way in which institutions and other people deal with the victim. Specifically, among LGBTI+ victims, it may include the use of inappropriate language, discrediting, LGBTI+phobic comments, discriminatory acts, among others.
Heteronormativity: When it is assumed that the only sexual orientation is heterosexual, excluding and marginalizing any other sexual orientation.
Social Insult: These are insults transmitted, albeit unconsciously, about LGBTI+ people, based on stereotypes and prejudices based on heterosexist and heteronormative/cisnormative norms and values.
Gender Inequality: When men and women do not have access to the same opportunities, namely access to education, higher professional careers, health, among others.