Sexual violence affects every demographic and every community, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) individuals. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects (NCAVP) estimates that nearly 1 in 10 LGBTQ survivors of intimate partner violence has experienced sexual assault by their partners.1 According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals who self-identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual experience intimate partner violence at similar or higher rates than self-identified heterosexual individuals.2 The alarming rates of sexual violence within the LGBTQ community warrant a strategic response from law enforcement, including the implementation of effective policies and procedures to address the specific needs of individuals who identify as LGBTQ and to build and sustain positive, healthy relationships between law enforcement and the LGBTQ community.
The decision to report and the process of reporting a sexual assault to law enforcement can be difficult for any victim, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. When compounded with the historically strained relationship between the LGBTQ community and law enforcement, this decision becomes even more difficult.3 When crimes of sexual violence go unreported, survivors might not receive needed services, perpetrators are not held accountable, and the community remains at risk for continued victimization. It is incumbent upon law enforcement leaders to prioritize active relationship building with and improvement of services to the LGBTQ community in service of the profession’s overall goals to reduce crime, hold offenders accountable, and improve community safety.
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects (NCAVP) estimates that nearly 1 in 10 LGBTQ survivors of intimate partner violence has experienced sexual assault by their partners.
In the United States, relationships between lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and gender non-conforming communities and government institutions have historically been marred by discrimination, poor communication, harassment, and an absence of trust. Every U.S. state had antisodomy laws—which specifically target and criminalize sexual intimacy between LGBTQ individuals—on their books at some point in their history. These laws still exist in 16 states, though they were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003.4 Government harassment of the LGBTQ community has also taken the form of discrimination in eligibility for employment, military service, and child custody, and police raids for violations of minor statutes like liquor licensing and public lewdness laws have historically been used to target and harass LGBTQ people in the social spaces they carved out for themselves.
Drawing from promising practices and innovative initiatives pioneered by law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, the IACP, in collaboration with a group of multidisciplinary subject matter experts, is developing Guidelines for Addressing Sexual Violence in the LGBTQ Community. This project is made possible through a competitive impact grant from Raliance, a national leadership collaborative dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation. Raliance’s grant program advances policies and practices that reduce the likelihood of sexual violence, improve responses to victims, and strengthen the capacity of communities to create safe environments.
The Guidelines for Addressing Sexual Violence in the LGBTQ Community resource will contribute to this goal of creating safer environments by presenting information and innovative strategies that can lay a foundation for developing healthy relationships with this community and better equip law enforcement officers with the information they need to respond to incidents of violence within the community. Although every case of sexual violence is unique and each victim has specific needs, the guidelines can be used by law enforcement first-line officers and investigators to enhance their response to sexual violence against LGBTQ individuals and by supervisors as part of report reviews and broader training efforts. Agency leaders and staff can also use the resource for the development of policy and protocols; decisions on hiring, promotions, and mentoring; and the development or sustained support of community partnerships and collaborations. The Guidelines for Addressing Sexual Violence in the LGTBQ Community will include
- Vocabulary terms to provide law enforcement an understanding of language essential to effectively responding to sexual victimization of LGBTQ individuals
- Realities about sexual violence in the LGBTQ community and essential information to increase understanding of the unique barriers and challenges that can prevent LGBTQ individuals from reporting sexual assault to law enforcement, as well as strategies to overcome those barriers
- Policy considerations to assist agencies in developing stronger sexual assault policies specific to the LGBTQ community
- Suggestions for mentoring agency members to strengthen overall response to LGBTQ individuals
- Hiring and recruitment considerations to ensure that qualified personnel who demonstrate a commitment to support LGTBQ individuals are in place at all levels of the agency and suggestions for creating or enhancing specific liaison units, when possible
- Training curriculum recommendations to provide comprehensive trauma-informed guidance to agency members responding to sexual violence in the LGBTQ community
- Promising practices to assist agencies in identifying and tailoring strategies and programs for their own communities
- Assessment tool/questionnaire for agency leaders to use to gauge their internal and external efforts to effectively respond to crimes of sexual violence against LGBTQ individuals
For more information about the Guidelines for Addressing Sexual Violence in the LGBTQ Community, please contact Michael Rizzo, IACP project manager, at rizzo@theiacp.org or 800-The-IACP, extension 818. For more information about Raliance and its impact grant program, please contact info@raliance.org or visit Raliance online at www.raliance.org. ♦
Notes:
1Human Rights Campaign, “Sexual Assault and the LGBT Community.”
2Ibid.; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: An Overview of 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation.
3Christy Mallory, Amira Hasenbush, and Brad Sears, Discrimination and Harassment by Law Enforcement Officers in the LGBT Community (The Williams Institute, March 2015).
4Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003).
Glossary
Ally: A person who is not LGBTQ but shows support for LGBTQ people and promotes equality in a variety of ways.
Bisexual: A person emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender, or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree.
Gay: A person who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to members of the same gender.
Gender Nonconforming: A broad term referring to people who do not behave in a way that conforms to the traditional expectations of their gender or whose gender expression does not fit neatly into a category.
Queer: A term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations. Often used interchangeably with “LGBTQ.”
Questioning: A term used to describe people who are in the process of exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
Source: Human Rights Campaign, “Glossary of Terms.”
Please cite as
Michael Rizzo and Julie Patrick, “Law Enforcement Guidelines and Strategies for Addressing Sexual Violence in the LGBTQ Community,” IACP Working For You, The Police Chief 84 (May 2017): 70–73.
