“I had no idea where to go”, exploring barriers to LGBTQ+ survivors of intimate partner violence accessing service provision in the Illawarra

This study explored barriers lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (herein LGBTQ+) survivors of intimate partner violence face when accessing support services in the Illawarra, NSW, Australia. The aim was to understand the context-specific barriers being in a regional, rural, or remote (RRR) location queer survivors faced and how help-seeking pathways were affected. Four queer cisgender participants were interviewed for this study, who served as case studies. The data was analysed through a feminist standpoint lens utilising thematic analysis revealing three main themes: one, barriers to recognising victimisation and understanding victim-status; two, help-seeking practises and challenges; and three, the politics of being queer-friendly in practice. The study found that living in an RRR community acts as a barrier to accessing help from support services, indicating that queer survivors of IPV have engaged with relevant support services in the Illawarra in limited ways due to help-seeking pathways being unclear and a lack of available services. Overall, this study found that prejudice, compulsory heterosexuality, heteronormativity, patriarchy, rurality, and other power dynamics surrounding sexuality and gender identity as well as victim-status both create and exacerbate barriers for queer survivors to seek help in RRR locations after their experience of IPV.