Skip to content

Queering Violence

By Kemora Williams

As you may know, October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. When you think of domestic violence you typically think of partners of the opposite gender involved in physical, mental, and/or emotional harmful behavior, with a female being the victim. However, has it ever crossed your mind that domestic violence can occur between partners of the same gender? That the victim is not always a woman? That men are not always the abusers?

On Wednesday, October 8, 2014, this past week the Women’s Center co-sponsored with UMKC LGBTQIA Programs and Services and Kansas City Anti-Violence Project for an event titled “Queering Violence: Conversations about Interpersonal Violence, Sexual Violence and Trauma in LGBTQ Communities”. It was a workshop facilitated by the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project to understand the ongoing struggle when it comes to how violence is viewed regarding queer sexuality, bodies, and spaces.

During the event we discussed how the Power Control Wheel assumes that the abusers are male, how it does not include non-traditional households, and how queer people can feel ignored in the fight against domestic violence. We also talked about the different definitions of domestic violence, sexual assault, and rape. The workshop was very informative and interesting for both those a part of the LGBTQIA community and the straight community. We would like to thank everyone who attended and you wanted to attended but couldn’t. We encourage you to visit the KCAVP website (www.kcavp.org) to get more information.