Lesbian Intimate Partner Violence and Perceived Social Support

Abstract

Intimate partner violence is recurrent in the daily lives of many Brazilian women, but its characteristics are little studied in same-sex relationships. This article aims to characterize the manifestation of violence in homosexual relationships among women based on its typology and frequency and to analyze the possible associations between violence and social support. The sample consisted of 634 Brazilian lesbians adults aged 18 to 58 years who answered three online instruments: Brazil Socioeconomic Classification Criteria, Conflict Tactics Scales (Brief version), and Perception of Social Support Scale. Based on latent class analysis, we identified four significantly different classes in terms of patterns of violence suffered and perceived social support. The findings reinforce the finding that relationship intimate partner violence and social support is a heterogeneous phenomenon, in which the variables are not always directly associated.