Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence: Prevalence and Characteristics

Both in the international context and in the Portuguese context, there is growing scientific recognition regarding the existence of violence in intimate relationships between partners of the same sex. As in heterosexual relationships, there are predictive factors, related to violence in same-sex relationships, which are specific to the relationship dynamics of this population. Being a constantly evolving problem, it is becoming increasingly urgent to create specific methodologies able to evaluate the prevalence of this phenomenon, as well as methodologies having a preventive and interventional character. In the present article, a systematic review of the literature on the prevalence of violence in couples with homosexual orientation, namely gay and lesbian, is carried out, and the theme of the risk factors present in these relationships, more specifically in the individuals that constitute the couple, is addressed. According to the results of this literature review study there are different types of abuse and psychological aggression is assuming greater prominence. There are a number of risk factors for same-sex intimate partner violence (IPV), but literature reviews focusing exclusively on the study of risk factors are confusing and scarce, being necessary to develop further accurate scientific studies about the characteristics and risk factors for IPV in same-sex relationships for better understanding of the phenomenon, in order to reduce prevalence and work on prevention.