Download LGBT Young People Scenarios for Training

LGBT Young People
and Domestic Abuse: Scenarios
Discuss each scenario in a group for about 10
minutes. Think about what is happening for the
young people involved and how they may feel
throughout the scene.
• What are the specific or unique issues for this young
person that they are experiencing because they, or
their family members, are LGBT?
• What is the service doing well?
• What is the service doing poorly?
• What could be improved?
Voices Unheard, February 2012
Scenario 1
Craig is 16 and bisexual and goes to school in your area. A
few months ago he was sexually assaulted by an
acquaintance at a party. He has been finding it really hard
to concentrate at school and has been having lots of fights
with his mum because she knows there is something
wrong, but he won’t talk about it. He sees a poster in a
café advertising a local organisation and decides to phone
them to arrange to talk to someone. When he phones
them they say that they will send him an appointment
through the post. Craig is worried that his mum will open
the letter and so makes sure that he is there for the
postman in the mornings. This means he is sometimes
late for school.
Four weeks after he phoned them, he gets a letter through
the post. The letter says that he should go to their office
at 2.30pm. Craig decides to leave school during lunch.
When he gets to the service he talks to a woman who
listens when he talks about what happened. When he
finishes talking she says that he must feel awful and says
that it is often a lot more difficult for men when the abuser
is another man. The woman provides him with some
resources and arranges another appointment for Craig.
On the way home Craig decides he doesn’t want to go
back again.
Voices Unheard, February 2012
Scenario 2
Jenny is 21 and has been in a relationship with Claire for
the last 2 years. Recently Claire has become quite
aggressive and violent towards her. This seems to happen
when they go out with a group of people and Claire is
always saying that Jenny flirts with men when they are out
and she’s not a real lesbian and she should just go and get
a boyfriend instead.
Jenny has seen some information about domestic abuse
and thinks this may be what is happening to her. She
goes online and looks at a service’s website in her area
and looks at the information that they have. All of the
information talks about men abusing women and the
examples that they give really don’t seem to be anything
like what she is experiencing. She decides that this is
probably just something that will blow over and leaves it.
The next week Jenny and Claire go out again and when
they get home Claire starts screaming at Jenny. The
neighbours hear and phone the police. They arrive and
ask both of them what is going on. Claire tells them they
are just having an argument and that they are fine now.
The police say that they need to calm down and as they
are leaving Jenny hears one of the police officers saying to
the other that there seem to be a lot of flatmates having
arguments at the moment.
Voices Unheard, February 2012
Scenario 3
Laura is a young trans woman in Dundee. She has been
experiencing domestic abuse from her partner, Tom, for a
few months. She has ended the relationship, but is finding
it difficult to move on and Tom keeps phoning her and
saying that he loves her and wants to get back together.
Laura knows that the relationship was abusive and very
negative for her self-confidence, which has been quite low
since she started transitioning. She decides that she
should go and talk to someone about this and maybe get
some advice about what she can do to make sure Tom
leaves her alone. She is nervous about accessing a service
but finds one whose website states that it is inclusive of all
women, regardless of sexual orientation. She figures they
will be inclusive.
She arranges an appointment at this service, and still feels
very nervous about going as it seems scary to talk to
someone else about the abuse she’s experiencing. When
she arrives the receptionist greets her and asks her what
she is doing there. Laura explains that she is there for an
appointment. The receptionist looks concerned and says
she just needs to check something. Another staff member
comes into reception looks at Laura and goes back into
the other room. Five minutes later another person comes
out and takes Laura into a private room and begins the
Voices Unheard, February 2012
session. The worker seems very nervous and asks Laura if
her ex-partner is a man or a woman. As the session goes
on she seems unsure and half way though the session
goes out of the room and Laura can hear her talking to
other workers.
Laura had wanted to tell the service that she was trans,
but feels very uncomfortable. She decides that she wants
to leave and so gets up and tells the worker outside that
she needs to go.
Voices Unheard, February 2012
Scenario 4
Sarah has been accessing support at a domestic abuse
service because her mum has been experiencing domestic
abuse from her step dad. Her step dad has moved out of
the house, but he still comes round sometimes and
sometimes stays round.
Recently Sarah has been questioning her sexual
orientation and thinks she may be a lesbian. Her step dad
doesn’t like gay people and if Sarah wears her baggy
jeans around the house he calls her a dyke. Sarah knows
that she could never tell her mum or step dad that she
thinks she might be a lesbian because it would just make
things worse. She has seen how violent he gets and this
would make him very angry.
Sarah decides to tell her worker at the service about being
LGB or T. The worker listens to her and says that there is
information online and there is a LGBT Youth group in
Dundee City that she could go to. She says that she will
find the information for her. As Sarah and her mum are
leaving the worker says “Sarah, I don’t have your email
address, so I’ll just post you that information about the
group, ok?”.
Voices Unheard, February 2012
Scenario 5
Joe is a 16 year old schoolboy who is witnessing domestic
abuse in his family. He has two fathers: Charlie and
Trevor. Trevor has always been a little forgetful but it has
been escalating; Trevor has been having problems with his
hormone medication, at times he is going through the
medication quicker than usual, and Charlie is accusing
Trevor of being careless. Joe is concerned about his
parents and witnessed Trevor reacting poorly to a gift
from Charlie. Trevor looked embarrassed and hurt when
he said he did not like the shirt (which looked like a
women’s blouse to Joe) and Charlie became very angry
and began yelling. Joe has been learning about domestic
abuse in school and recognises some of the same signs
with his parents but the school only talked about men’s
violence against women, so he’s not sure. Joe has decided
to talk to a domestic abuse service for support.
At first, the worker is very friendly and Joe is comfortable
in their presence. Then, the worker asked something
about Joe’s mum and dad and Joe takes offense, thinking
the service is being transphobic by calling his dad Trevor
his ‘mum’. Joe angrily explains that he has two fathers and
the worker is visibly surprised. The worker then asks about
Joe’s sexual orientation. Joe becomes confused and upset,
and then explains that Trevor is a transman.
Voices Unheard, February 2012
The worker looks stunned and doesn’t know how to
respond to Joe, they start rifling through drawers and
shelves to find leaflets and hands Joe information on
women services. The worker then swiftly wraps up the
conversation and tries to leave the meeting early. This
leaves Joe confused, angry and upset and decides to
leave.
Voices Unheard, February 2012