Transgender – Specific Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

The terms transgender and gender diverse (TGD) are often used to refer to individuals whose gender identity differ from societal expectations associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.

Trans victim-survivors can experience trans-specific intimate partner violence (T-IPV) which consists of abusers weaponizing societal transphobia.

What is Transgender-specific Intimate Partner Violence (T-IPV)?

1. Transgender-specific intimate partner violence is a type of identity abuse, which is a broader term indicating abuse in both transgender and cisgender relationships.
2. The rate of identity abuse reported by trans and gender non-conforming participants was nearly 2.5 times the amount reported by cisgender queer men.
3. Subgroups with a higher risk of transgender-specific intimate partner violence include.
   1. Older transfeminine adults
   2. Those having a history of sex work
   3. Those experiencing food insecurity

Did you know? Transgender individuals are at higher risk of experiencing intimate partner violence victimization than cisgender people.

While the rate of physical intimate partner violence among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adults is similar to U.S. married/co-habiting cisgender adult women, the sexual violence rates in the TGD group is double that of the cisgender group.

Learn more about Transgender-Specific Intimate Partner Violence

Sources:

1. Kattari, S.K., et al. (2022). Differential Experiences of Sexual, Physical, and Emotional Intimate Partner Violence Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults
2. Egale. (2024). Transgender People’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence. A Literature Review
3. Scheer et al. (2018). Psychometric validation of the identity abuse scale among LGBTQ individuals
4. Woulfe and Goodman (2021). Identity Abuse as a Tactic of Violence in LGBTQ Communities: Initial Validation of the Identity Abuse Measure
5. Peitzmeier et al. (2021). The transgender-specific intimate partner violence scale for research and practice: Validation in a sample of transgender women
6. Bott et al. (2019). Intimate partner violence in the Americas: a systematic review and reanalysis of national prevalence estimates