9 - What is being done to support trans older people facing intimate and domestic abuse?

Summary

Introduction

The stigma, discrimination and violence faced by trans people globally is pervasive and well documented (Arayasirikul et al, 2022). While there is growing appreciation of intimate partner violence (IPV) and domestic abuse (DA) in relationships for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) populations, trans people are a group of ‘hidden victims’ and there is very little literature on their experiences (Gelles, 1997, p 96). The dearth of empirical work and the invisibility of trans people when exploring intimate and familial relationships and the environments in which intimate and domestic violence takes place sits within the broader picture of LGB people being at an elevated risk of IPV (Langenderfer- Magruder et al, 2016; Valentine et al, 2017). This chapter considers what is known about DA and IPV perpetrated against trans people in later life alongside any literature on adult safeguarding that might overlap in presentation (Cook- Daniels, 2010). This lack of visibility of older people who are gender diverse, the failure to ask or record gender identity when people are accessing or using support services and/ or trans and non- binary individuals’ fear of sharing information with professionals and service providers are all contributing factors to the failure of being able to screen, recognise and assess IPV and DA.

This chapter is written from our experience of working in the UK as a trans historied woman and cis woman, one of whom has extensive practice expertise in DA and the other in researching LGBTQ+ later life experience of health and social care. We draw on the sparse but important body of work on trans DA along with some of the broader literature on identity abuse. This is used to articulate what can be learned to support trans people better in later life who have or may be experiencing DA. We first consider what is known about the broader issues of violence against trans people before going on to highlight the types of violence experienced by trans individuals and the settings in which DA and IPV occur. We highlight the epistemological, political and social context for trans DA and look at barriers and challenges in identifying, reporting and responding to DA for trans people in later life given the lack of research and practice guidance in health and social care.