MATERIAL

Two surveys were used, one for the realization of a population screening, the Women Abuse screening tool, in its short version, and another used to identify violence between partners by measuring interpersonal aggression, the Index Spouse Abuse²¹.

Woman abuse screening tool (WAST)

This questionnaire was developed in the United States in 1996 as a detection instrument; it contains 7 items where the degree of tension and difficulty in the relationship is asked. Here we apply its short version that includes only 2 questions in relation to tension and difficulty, we consider 3 possible answers to both questions: without tension / difficulty, some tension / difficulty, a lot of tension / difficulty²¹.

This questionnaire was evaluated giving a score of 1 to all positive responses (some or a lot of tension / difficulty) and a rating of 0 to all negative responses (without tension / difficulty). Therefore, the final score ranged from 0 to 2, considering score 2 as a positive result in the selection. This type of evaluation was the most appropriate for the Spanish version because it presented a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 68%^(22)(23.

Index spouse abuse (ISA)

This scale was initially developed for medical use in the United States and measures physical violence, Sexual abuse, emotional abuse along with control and isolation behaviors. It was designed in the clinical setting in 1981 in this same country to evaluate the process in interventions to battered women. It contains 30 items on a Likert type scale of 1 to 5 (1 never and 5 very frequently).

In this study all kinds of generic considerations were taken into account, since the intentionality of the same was to evaluate whether gender violence itself (that is the violence that is suffered through a couple relationship and in a specific way with the idea of the cycle of violence of Leonore Walker¹²⁾⁽¹³was present in all possible potential victims, regardless of their sex, within the parameters of the power relationship. The use of male samples was given by Santos-Iglesias and cols with the realization of a study to evaluate the psychometric properties of this scale in men mistreated by their partner. 598 Spanish men aged between 18 and 77 participated. This instrument was approved as adequate for the evaluation of partner abuse in men²².

In the present study, sampling was carried out by collecting data at the University of Murcia from two surveys conducted at the University and several Spanish associations of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexuals, transexual and Intersex people (LGBTI) and from the social network Facebook, between January and March 2015.

METHODOLOGY

To carry out this study, a descriptive analysis was made with a series of two-way ANOVAS from the two different tests, screening (WAST) and diagnosis (ISA) and a factorial analysis to determine the types of violence established within the Spanish population.

Interpersonal violence (in relation to sexual orientation)

Regarding interpersonal violence and sexual orientation, 431 subjects were observed, WAST 0 (Negative):1.33±0.46; WAST 1 (Negative): 1.60±0.59; WAST 2 (Positive):1.90±0.89(p<0.0005). The greater the WAST, the more interpersonal violence. (Table I)

Table I: Average and standard deviation of the values of Interpersonal Violence by WAST and Sexual Orientation 

Regarding sexual orientation (Gays\lesbian: 1.53 ± 0.63, Heterosexuals: 1.57 ± 0.71, Bisexuals: 1.55 ± 0.58) do not present significant differences.

Social violence (in relation to sexual orientation)

Regarding social violence and sexual orientation, 325 subjects were observed, WAST 0 (Negative):1.12±0.28; WAST 1 (Negative):1.17±0.26; WAST 2 (Positive):1.53±0.77 (p<0.0005).The greater the WAST, the more social violence. (Table II)

Table II: Average and standard deviation of the values of Social Violence by WAST and Sexual Orientation. 

Regarding sexual orientation (Gays\lesbian: 1.32 ± 0.48, Heterosexual: 1.20 ± 0.51, Bisexual: 1.29 ± 0.47) did not present significant differences.

Physical violence (in relation to sexual orientation)

Regarding physical violence and sexual orientation, 331 subjects were observed, WAST 0 (Negative):1.06±0.28; WAST 1 (Negative):1.08±0.25; WAST 2 (Positive): 1.21±0.45 (p<0.0005). The greater the WAST, the more physical violence (table III).

Table III: Average and standard deviation of the values of Physical Violence by WAST and Sexual Orientation 

Regarding the sexual orientation (Gays\lesbian: 1.08 ± 0.22, Heterosexuals: 1.12 ± 0.39, Bisexuals: 1.13 ± 0.21) did not present significant differences.

Psychological violence (in relation to sexual orientation)

Regarding psychological violence and sexual orientation, 417 subjects were observed, WAST 0 (Negative): 1.10±2.24; WAST 1 (Negative): 1.21±0.31; WAST 2 (Positive): 1.53±0.76 (p<0.0005). The greater the WAST, the more the psychological violence (Table IV).

Table IV: Average and standard deviation of the values of Psychological Violence by WAST and Sexual Orientation. 

Regarding sexual orientation (Gays/lesbian: 1.30 ± 0.56, Heterosexuals: 1.19 ± 0.46, Bisexuals: 1.31 ± 0.43) did not present significant differences.

DISCUSSION

From the results of this work, it could be considered that the sexual orientation of the subjects in reference to violence within the couple has no influence. Meaning, the violence in the relationship is presented independently of the sexual orientation. It can appear in all sort of couples, whether gay\lesbian, heterosexual or bisexual within this study group, as also shows in the study by Sorenson and Thomas in May 2009¹⁶, which states that gay/ lesbian couples have similar rates of violence within the couple.

Other studies do not support this perception, such as the research carried out by Tjaden and cols in 1999²⁴, from telephone surveys, where it was established that violence is more frequent in couples of gay men than among heterosexual couples, in the same way violence between couples of lesbian women is less frequent than in heterosexual couples. Salvidia and cols (2017) affirmed that the violence between the couple, in young gay people (men and women) was set at 84%, men presented more physical violence (36.5%) than women (28.4%), whereas sexual violence was observed more frequently in women (52.3%) compared to men (42.3%)²⁰. Gómez and cols, in their study conducted in 2017, reported that 17.25% of a sample of 467 gay men and lesbian women had suffered some sort of abuse. Of these 17,25 %, men reported having suffered more psychological violence (87.5%) compared to women (65.8%)¹⁹.

According to the present study, violence between couples can occur in gay\lesbian heterosexual or bisexual people within this study group, in each and every one of the different structures, from interpersonal, social and physical violence to psychological violence.

There are studies that consider that non-heterosexual couples suffer violence within their partnership. As shown in the research carried out by Renzetti in 1992²⁵, Lhomond and Saurel-Cubizolles in 2006²⁶, Mak and colls in 2010²⁷, and the study conducted by the Aldarte Association in 2010²⁸. In the Spanish context, most of the research is orientated to heterosexual couples. There have not been many studies that treat different sexual orientations as a predisposing factor in relation to violence within the couple.

It is worth highlighting a study carried out by Finnegan and Stephenson in 2013, in relation to the police power perceived by gay and bisexual men in relation to violence within the couple. It was observed that this was very bad in relation to their group, establishing that this problem was more associated with heterosexual women²⁹. Therefore, it is very complex to establish a problem that even the collectives themselves do not see as their own.

The type of survey used in this study should also be taken into account, since it was a Likert survey from 1 to 5 (from never to very frequent) and the observed average values were between 1 and 2 (from never to rare), It can be said that violence within the couple seems to be independent of sexual orientation and is a phenomenon that doesn´t occurs frequently.