Essay: Domestic violence in same sex relationships

Sample Essay

Words 1,565

Recently studies have discovered that domestic violence occurs in same sex relationships too. “Lesbian and gay domestic violence has shattered the illusion that gays and lesbians are less violent than their heterosexual counterparts. The reality is that domestic violence occurs at approximately the same rate in gay and lesbian relationships as it does in heterosexual unions.” (Renzetti & Miley 1)

The cliché that gays and lesbians are more in tune with their sensitive sides is shattered with this discovery. Two questions arise from this discovery: what causes domestic abuse in same sex relationships and what is the difference between homosexual and heterosexual domestic violence. (Renzetti & Miley 3) The answer to this question links back to the original definition of domestic violence, “…it knows not age, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.” (Turchetta & Duncan 82) Domestic abuse is built on the premises of gaining power over the other individual. “A certain number of people, given the opportunity to get away with abusing their partners, will do so because they hunger for control over some part of their lives, lives over which they feel they have no control. This perceived lack of power allows abusers to escape from responsibility for their actions. Sexism creates the opportunity for heterosexual men to abuse their partners, and homophobia, a tool of sexism, creates the opportunity for gays and lesbians to abuse their partners.” (Renzetti & Miley 3)

The struggle for power is a human characteristic that has been recorded in history books since the beginning of time. Human beings crave power. Before his death, the last words Caesar uttered were, “Et tu Brutus?” Retrospectively, same sex relationships are also a part of domestic violence because the abuse is rooted in the struggle for power; it has nothing to do with sexual orientations. (Renzetti & Miley 3)

Kindly order term papers, essays, research papers, dissertations, thesis, book reports from the order page.