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©Copyright 2006, North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. All rights reserved.

Service Availability for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Survivors of Domestic Violence in North Carolina 

NCCADV recently conducted a survey of domestic violence programs in North Carolina concerning services available to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of domestic violence.  Eighty eight programs were contacted and 79 programs responded to the survey (an 90% response rate).  In each call, an attempt was made to gather information from the Executive Director of the organization.  Of the respondents, 51 (65%) were Executive Directors, and 28 (35%) were other program staff.  All respondents were informed that the purpose of the survey was to gather information concerning the scope, availability and need for services to LGBT survivors.  The second stated purpose was to compile and make available for distribution information concerning potential referral sources for LGBT survivors.

All programs surveyed were asked the following questions:

1. Does your program provide services to lesbians?  If so, what services?

2. Does your program provide services to gay men?  If so, what services?

3. Does your program provide services to straight men?  If so, what services?

4. Does your program provide services to bisexual people?  If so, what services?

5. Does your program provide services to transgender people?  If so, what services?  How is shelter determined?

6. If so, what percentage of your clients would you estimate are LGBT?

7. Does your program have any literature available for staff or clients about LGBT domestic violence?  If so, what is it?

8. Do you advertise your services in LGBT media?

9. If you were an LGBT client, would you feel safe about being open about your sexual orientation or gender identity at your agency?

10. Does your staff receive any specialized training about LGBT domestic violence or homophobia?  If so, where do they get it, and who provides it?

11. How long is the training component related to LGBT domestic violence?

12. If free training were offered through NCCADV, would you or your staff be interested in attending?

13. Are LGBT issues and policies covered in your staff orientation and/or volunteer training?

14. Do you have contacts and referrals with the LGBT communities?

15. Is sexual orientation and gender identity listed in your non-discrimination policy?

16. Have there been “open” LGBT people on your staff?

17. Do your policies or administrative procedures (such as your Family Leave Policies) address sexual or gender orientation?  If so, how?

18. Do you know of any LGBT community groups or organizations in your area?  If so, would you please share their names and contact information?

 Service Availability (questions 1-6, 9)

Supportive services vary from program to program, but typically include a range of crisis and follow up services such as crisis line response, court advocacy, counseling, educational workshops and occasionally transitional housing.  All 79 respondents (100%) offer supportive services to lesbians and bisexual women.  Seventy-six programs (96%) offer supportive services to gay men, straight men and transgender people.  Four programs (5%) offer specialized services for lesbians, including two lesbian-only support groups, one lesbian batterer’s group and one advocate designated specifically for lesbians.  No program offers any specialized services for gay men, straight men, bisexual or transgender people.

Not all respondents operate an emergency shelter facility.  Of the 79 respondents, 64 (81%) operate at least one emergency shelter.  Of the 64 who operate emergency shelters, 100% admit lesbians and bisexual women to their facility.  On-site shelter for gay men is available at two programs (3%*) and for straight and bisexual men at one program (2%*).  One program (2%*) evaluates on-site shelter for gay, straight and bisexual men on a case by case basis.  Alternate shelter is available for straight and bisexual men at 56 programs (88%*) and for gay men at 55 programs (86%*).  Alternate shelter is generally either a local homeless shelter or a local motel room provided without cost to the survivor.  No shelter is available to gay, bisexual or straight men at 6 programs (9%*).  Shelter is provided to transgender people at 55 programs (86%*).  An additional 7 programs (11%*) are unsure about whether they will accept transgender people, and 3 programs (5%*) have no shelter available for transgender people.  Of the 55 programs offering shelter to transgender survivors, 3 (5%) always offer shelter on-site and 4 (6%) always provide shelter at either a homeless shelter or at a motel without cost to the survivor.  Thirty-seven (58%) of the programs offering shelter to transgender survivors had some facility determination policy that they used to determine if shelter is to be offered on site or at a homeless shelter or motel room.  Determination policies included:  biological gender, physical appearance or perceived gender, the survivor’s comfort, advice of other service providers, or current makeup of shelter residents. Some determination policies were simply “case by case” and the programs did not specify a specific determining factor.  It should be noted that many respondents were unclear about what a transgender person was, and were subjectively less confident in responding to question 5.

Estimates for the percentage of total people served by domestic violence programs who were lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ranged from 0% to 20%.  Most agencies that responded with a percentage estimate reported that they do not track the number of LGBT people seeking services, and so all estimates are subjective.  Six (8%) of the 78 programs said they were unsure about the percentage of LGBT survivors they served and declined to give an estimate.  The mean estimate for the percentage of LGBT survivors served by all programs responding was roughly 3%.  Although it is far from an accurate extrapolation, if this percentage is applied to the total number of people served through domestic violence programs in NC in a year (47,983 according to the NC Council for Women’s 2001-2002 statistics), then one can guess that approximately 1,439 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people sought domestic violence services NC during the 2001-2002 FY.

Question 9 asked the respondent to speculate about whether they would feel safe being open about their sexual/gender orientation if they were a LGBT survivor seeking services at the responding program.  In retrospect, this question may have been too subjective, as survey respondents have more intimate knowledge of the program than would a survivor making an initial contact.  However, the information may be useful as a gauge of staff perceptions of the relative safety of their program.  In response to this question, 72 respondents (91%) said that they would feel safe while receiving services.  Of those 72, nine respondents (13%) mentioned that even though they would feel safe within the organization, they would not have the same experience in the greater community.  Five respondents (6%) said that they would not feel safe being open in their program, and two (3%) were unsure.

Outreach and Materials (questions 7-8, 14, 18)

Programs were asked if they had any literature available for staff or clients about domestic violence in LGBT relationships.  Fifty-two programs (66%) had some literature available, 26 (33%) did not, and 1 (1%) was unsure.  Programs most often had books, pamphlets, or flyers.  Three programs had videos.  Many respondents mentioned difficulty locating and obtaining relevant materials.

Fourteen (18%) of the programs responding advertise their services in LGBT media sources or post/distribute flyers at LGBT community gatherings.  Sixty-five programs (82%) do not advertise services in LGBT media.  Of the 65 who do not advertise in LGBT media, 8 (13%) do extensive public advertising which is not targeted toward any particular group.

Thirty-six programs (45%) have contacts and referrals with the LGBT communities, and forty (51%) do not.  An additional 3 respondents (4%) were unsure.  However, only 19 (24%) programs were aware of LGBT community groups or organizations that existed in their area.  Fifty-nine (75%) respondents did not know of any LGBT community groups or organizations in the area, and 1 respondent (1%) was unsure.

Staff/Volunteer Training and Composition (questions 10-13, 16)

Of the 79 respondents, 39 programs (49%) had at least one staff member who had received any specialized training about domestic violence in LGBT relationships or about homophobia.  Thirty-eight programs (48%) had received no specialized training, and 2 respondents (3%) were unsure.  Of the programs who had received specialized training, the amount of training conducted by an external trainer was double the amount of training conducted from within the agency.  Training time varied greatly, ranging from less than one hour to 4-8 hours.  One program had sent staff members to a multiple day training on the topic.

Programs were also asked if LGBT issues were covered in their standard staff orientation and volunteer training curriculum.  Thirty-eight programs (48%) had some coverage of LGBT issues, 32 (41%) did not, and 5 respondents (6%) were unsure.  An additional 4 programs (5%) had training about non-discrimination in general, but not specifically about any LGBT issues.

There were (or had been in the past) “open” LGBT people on staff at 36 (46%) or the programs.  Forty programs (50%) had not employed any LGBT people, and 3 (4%) were unsure.

Policies and Procedures (questions 15, 17)

Forty-six programs (58%) list both sexual orientation and gender identity in their non-discrimination policies, while 14 (18%) list sexual orientation but not gender identity.  No program listed gender identity without listing sexual orientation as well.  Eleven programs (14%) listed neither sexual orientation nor gender identity in their non-discrimination policies, and 8 respondents (10%) were unsure.

*of programs with shelter