The Potential for Restorative Justice Practice for Addressing Intimate Partner Violence with Queer Couples

Abstract

Sexual minority individuals (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual) are at increased risk to experience intimate partner violence (IPV) compared to heterosexual individuals. When working with these couples it is critical for therapists to provide queer affirming care by recognizing influential social conditions on IPV (i.e., minority stressors). However, many sexual minority individuals who have been harmed by their partners report being unable to access queer affirming care. One largely undiscussed practice is restorative justice in the context of couple therapy. This paper theorizes ways to conduct safe restorative justice practice with queer couples where IPV is present. Based on extant research and established recommendations for queer affirming care, we propose a three-phase approach encompassing training, assessment, and restorative mediation.

KEYWORDS:

• Queer couples
• minority stress
• domestic violence
• LGBT
• queer affirming
• situational couple violence