This May 28th, 2020 has been declared the inaugural ‘LGBTI Domestic Violence Awareness Day’.

Intimate partner violence is reported at similar rates in same gender relationships to heterosexual relationships. While some studies have found even higher rates, particularly for bisexual women and trans and gender diverse people. However, given that the LGBTIQ community has struggled to gain equal legal and social recognition of their relationships, acknowledging that Domestic Violence can also occur within these requires nuanced community and service sector education.

Joining the podcast to talk about this are two people very engaged in this area in Victoria, Matthew Parsons & Russell Vickery.

Matthew Parsons is the Manager, Education and Strategic Development at Rainbow Health Victoria within The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society (ARCSHS), at La Trobe University. Matthew is one of Australia’s leading specialists in LGBTQ experiences of intimate partner and family of origin violence. Matthew leads the delivery of LGBTQ domestic violence and inclusive practice training to mainstream domestic violence services across Victoria, and has driven LGBTQ domestic violence public educational projects and media campaigns through producing and directing the innovative educational theatre piece “My Other Closet the Cabaret”.

Russell Vickery is a banker by day and a musical performer and community advocate and educator by night. Russ is passionate about dispelling the myths surrounding Domestic Violence and advocating for survivors. He is the LGBTIQ representative on the Victorian government’s Victim Survivor Advisory Council and star of “My Other Closet the Cabaret”, turning his lived-experience of surviving a violent and abusive gay relationship in to a vehicle for change. Regularly appearing on stage and in media interviews telling (& singing) his story, Russ was notably the first queer survivor of DV to share their story on national Australian television when he appeared on ABC TV’s “You Can’t Ask That” last year.

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