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Journal of Family Violence

Open Access 30-03-2023 | Original Article

Indigenous LGBTIQSB + People’s Experiences of Family Violence in Australia

Authors: Karen Soldatic, Corrinne T. Sullivan, Linda Briskman, John Leha, William Trewlynn, Kim Spurway

Published in: Journal of Family Violence

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Abstract

Purpose

This article uses an Indigenous concept of family violence as a frame to interrogate interviews held with Indigenous LGBTIQSB + people in Australia. The article reorients family violence away from Western heteronormative framings and aims to contribute towards a new conversation about family violence.

Methods

A qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyse 16 interviews with Indigenous LGBTIQSB + people in the state of New South Wales, Australia. This is one of a series of articles that provide preliminary findings from a research project into the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous LGBTIQSB + young people living in New South Wales.

Results

The interviews highlight the complex impact family violence on Indigenous LGBTIQSB + youth. The article shows differences in reactions between family and community in urban settings with those experienced in rural settings highlighting intergenerational differences, with older family members such as grandparents, more likely to exhibit negative reactions and behaviours. These experiences are interconnected as many young people were living in urban areas while extended family often lived in rural or remote communities.

Conclusions

The findings of this study demonstrate the intersectional nature of family violence highlighting the fact that Indigenous LGBTIQSB + young people are integral parts of extended kinship networks, families and communities and are deeply impacted by any acts of family violence. The study’s findings also support current research into family and community violence for LGBTIQ + people that shows the differential behaviours and actions of rural and urban families as well as the different reactions between generations within families.
Footnotes
1
Please note that in this article we use LGBTIQSB + for Indigenous youth only. For non-Indigenous LGBTIQ + people, we use the LGBTIQ + acronym as they do not include Sistergirls and Brotherboys. These latter terms are not used within all Indigenous communities or by all Indigenous trans people (Sullivan, 2018). Sistergirls are often translated as “transwomen” and Brotherboys as “transmen”, however, but this is not an accurate depiction as it fails to include Indigenous understandings of gender diversity (Riggs & Toone, 2017).
 
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Metadata
Title
Indigenous LGBTIQSB + People’s Experiences of Family Violence in Australia
Authors
Karen Soldatic
Corrinne T. Sullivan
Linda Briskman
John Leha
William Trewlynn
Kim Spurway
Publication date
30-03-2023
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Family Violence
Print ISSN: 0885-7482
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00539-1