As an expert in Spanish journalism for the digital magazine Rainbow, today I address a crucial and often silenced topic within our own community: intragender violence. It is a reality that hurts us and that, as a society, we have the obligation to make visible, understand and eradicate.
What is Intragender Violence?
Intragender violence is called violence that manifests itself in its various forms within emotional and sexual relationships between people of the same sex.. It is, fundamentally, an exercise of power, where the objective of the person who abuses is to dominate and control his victim.
It is essential to differentiate it from gender violence, which is articulated around the subjective difference between the sexes and the historically unequal power relations of men over women. The roots of intragender violence are different and are based on the power imbalance generated by other factors.
Inequality and Control Factors
The inequality that facilitates dominance and control in an intragender relationship is not always physical. It is often based on elements of vulnerability specific to the member of the couple. These factors include:
- Different economic or educational level.
- Irregular administrative situation in the country.
- Health or disability status.
- Serological status (HIV, for example).
- Visibility or “the closet”: The degree of visibility of the partner’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Blackmail of LGBT-phobia
A particularly painful and specific aspect of this type of violence is the use of LGTBIQ+-phobia itself as a tool of control. The aggressor may use blackmail and threats to reveal the victim’s sexual orientation or identity to his or her personal or work environment, accelerating a process of isolation that in itself can occur due to lack of self-acceptance or social homophobia. The couple thus becomes the only reference point of diversity for the victim, the only contact with their identity reality, which reinforces isolation and dependency.
Manifestations of Invisible Violence
The belief that intragender violence is less frequent or less serious than in heterosexual couples is a false myth. Furthermore, violence can be both physical and psychological, and does not depend on sexual orientation. Domination begins with the psychological cancellation of the victim, using various tactics of abuse and dominance:
- Psychological violence: Humiliation, insults, threats, denigration and blackmail.
- Social isolation: Prohibition of going to certain places or communicating with friends.
- Control: Management of telephone, money or friends.
Physical violence: Hitting, pushing or shaking. - Sexual assault. The victim denies and minimizes the abuse, masking it from family and friends for fear of reprisals and shame. This cycle of abuse is characterized by a behavior of regret and approach on the part of the aggressor, who then always justifies his violence by blaming the victim for having provoked it.
Legal Recognition and Reflection
In Spain, intragender violence is classified as domestic violence and is regulated by articles 153.2 and 173.2 of the Penal Code. This implies that victims can access protection measures such as the prohibition of approaching or communicating with the aggressor, and even their expulsion from the family home.
The fight against this reality requires that the entire LGTBIQ+ community assume its share of responsibility in creating safe spaces and dismantling the internalized homophobia that may be at the root of these patterns of control and abuse.
Question for the reader: If violence is based on power, what active steps can we take, as individuals and as an LGTBIQ+ community, to ensure that equity and respect are the only pillars of our emotional relationships? Are we paying enough attention to the most vulnerable voices within our collective.
