Middlesex DA leads roundtable discussion on LGBT domestic violence

At least two high-profile same-sex domestic violence incidents made headlines last year. In April Nicole Chuminski, 25, allegedly set fire to her girlfriend Anna Reisopoulos' South Boston home, killing her two children, ages 14 and 2. In July Sandra Howes was arrested by police at gunpoint after allegedly beating her girlfriend while speeding down Route 93 in her Honda Civic. Yet while same-sex domestic violence incidents have made for splashy headlines in the mainstream press, the resources for victims of those incidents are few and far between. To help remedy that situation Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone held a roundtable discussion on same-sex domestic violence at Waltham District Court Feb. 3, which drew a crowd of about 40 local police officers, domestic violence service providers, prosecutors and victim-witness advocates.

Leone led off the discussion, explaining that the greatest impediments to addressing domestic violence are "barriers to disclosure," social, cultural and economic barriers that dissuade or prevent victims of domestic violence from seeking support to escape their situation.

"The fact of the matter is in the GLBT community they have additional barriers to disclosure. ... Reporting abuse, just that fact that someone reports an abuse might mean someone has to out themself. That's not always safe," said Leone. Another barrier, he said, is that many victims worry that law enforcement officials will not take their case seriously because they do not fit the typical model of a domestic violence victim, a woman in a relationship with a man.

To break down those barriers Leone said his office has worked to train police departments across Middlesex County in the full spectrum of domestic violence situations. He urged attendees to reject the assumption that domestic violence always involves a man abusing a woman.

"Domestic violence isn't a gender-based issue. It's an issue of abuse and an issue of power and control," said Leone.

Following Leone's opening address two advocates working on LGBT domestic violence issues, Peter Bott?as, a therapist at Fenway Health's Violence Recovery Program (VRP) and Wayne Thomas, an attorney working for the Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project (GMDVP), gave attendees an overview of issues facing LGBT domestic violence victims.

Bott?as said one of the most difficult issues facing advocates and law enforcement officials dealing with same-sex domestic violence cases is determining which partner is the perpetrator and which party is the victim.

"You can't tell who the perpetrator is by his or her appearance. You can't tell that the party who is bigger, stronger, more butch is necessarily the perpetrator," said Bott?as.
One consequence of the confusion in assessing which party is which in a same-sex domestic violence case is that judges will frequently impose mutual restraining orders on both parties, sending the victim the message that legal authorities doubt his or her story of abuse, Bott?as said.

Thomas said GMDVP has worked to equip law enforcement officials, prosecutors and domestic violence advocates with the tools to determine who the victim is in same-sex domestic violence cases by offering a screening tool, a series of questions that can be used to sort out the power dynamics of an abusive relationship and determine which party is the batterer.

When asked by an audience member about what criteria the screening tool uses, Bott?as, who is also familiar with the tool, explained, "We have a number of criteria that we look at to see, first, if there's a dynamic of power and control and, second, how it manifests itself." Thomas declined to provide further details, saying GMDVP believes that formal training is required to use the tool effectively. He invited the audience to attend the next GMDVP screening tool training.

Bott?as said another obstacle to serving victims of LGBT domestic violence is the scarcity of resources. In particular there are very few shelters that will accept men, and transgender people often have great difficulty finding shelters that will accept them. Thomas said Massachusetts has a handful of programs providing shelter services to LGBT victims, more than any other region of the country, including GMDVP; the Network/La Red, which serves lesbian and bisexual women and transgender people; and Reach, a mainstream domestic violence service provider that serves LGBT clients. Yet he said even these providers cannot meet the needs of all the victims in need of shelter.

"We end up with survivors from across the country because we are one of the only programs that shelter men," said Thomas.

During a question and answer session following their talk one audience member asked Thomas and Bott?as what prosecutors should do in situations where the victim of a domestic violence situation declines to come out. The audience member said he has seen circumstances where a victim claimed that his or her batterer was a roommate but where it was clear that there was likely a romantic relationship between the two parties.

Thomas said in that circumstance a victim-witness advocate should tell the victim, "It sounds like there's something more going on. We work with all kinds of people in all kinds of cases," to reassure them that prosecutors will be supportive if the victim comes out about the nature of the relationship. Yet Thomas said for a variety of factors the victim may not want to come out, and prosecutors should respect that, even if it potentially weakens their case. He said prosecutors should explain to victims the potential benefits of being open about the nature of their relationship when bringing their case before a judge.

Another audience member asked if there have been any efforts to raise awareness within the LGBT community that domestic violence victims should see the police as a resource to escape an abusive situation. Thomas said in non-scientific surveys of attendees at Boston Pride events GMDVP has found that just two percent of respondents identified police as a resource for domestic violence victims. Bott?as said given the history of police persecution of the LGBT community it has been difficult getting LGBT people to trust law enforcement officials and to see them as allies. He said he was not aware of efforts to raise awareness about the police as a resource for LGBT domestic victims, but he said the VRP has partnered with the Boston Police Community Disorders Unit to encourage the community to partner with the police to address hate crimes.

"Certainly in the area of hate crimes we've done a lot around that," said Thomas.

Ethan Jacobs can be reached at [email protected]