Queer People Deserve Relationship Safety

Many of us come to queer and trans community looking for understanding, acceptance, and safety. Unfortunately, that’s not always what we find. Violence within queer and trans community happens, and because of the stigma against us, it can be hard to talk about. 

Queer and trans people are not inherently violent; homophobia and transphobia always are. There exists an old stereotype about us that we’re somehow harmful just for being who we are, and so we experience a pressure to keep quiet about it when violence does happen in our community. Many queer and trans people are reluctant to talk about violence in our community for fear of perpetuating stereotypes. This is why we need to end homophobia and transphobia in order to create a world where queer relationship violence can be spoken about more freely, and ended. 

Right now, most resources on violence in intimate partner relationships are written exclusively for straight, cis women; which makes it hard to recognize the signs of abuse between queer people. At WAVAW, we often talk about how sexual violence is about power and control, and as queer people we know that power can show up in different ways, especially as some of our queer identities are more marginalized than others. Still, there are very few resources that can speak to the ways power and the abuse of power might show up for us. 

The result is too often silence around relationship violence, and not understanding the specific things to look out for. 

Queer and trans people deserve relationship safety, and we deserve to be able to talk about it, and access resources for healing when violence does happen. We deserve support services that have a nuanced understanding of our experiences, and we deserve to see ourselves reflected in the conversation about violence. 

If you are a queer or trans survivor, or if you’re not sure if what you’re experiencing is abuse, WAVAW is here for you. You can download our new pamphlet that speaks to some of the ways that abuse can show up in our communities, and you can call our crisis line any time to talk to someone who will believe you. 

We deserve relationships that celebrate us, and a world that celebrates queerness. We are committed to ending the systems of oppression that increase and perpetuate violence within our community, and we’re here to support survivors every step along your healing journey.

WAVAW’s is here for you. Below are resources we have prepared and ways to connect with our team of highly-skilled Victim Service Workers and Sexual Assault Counsellors.

Felix G (they/them)
Meaningful Inclusion Project Lead 

WAVAW Supports for Gender Diverse Survivors
Navigating Safety In Relationships

Crisis Line: 1-877-392-7583
WAVAW Connect: www.salalsvsc.ca/connect