The number of reported cases of domestic violence in the GLBT community decreased slightly in 2002, according to a report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, but some of the decline may be due to reporting problems.

There was a 2% decrease in reported incidents among the eight regions that participated in both the 2001 and 2002 reports. The report documents 5,092 cases of domestic violence—3,434 just in Los Angeles.

NCAVP staff said though the 2% decrease is small, ‘there are troubling reports of continued decreases in reporting at many of the local programs. This trend is attributed to ongoing decreases in funding and concordant staffing shortages and reduced outreach.’Lisa Tonna, Horizons’ Interim Director of Programs, said the agency’s DV numbers for Chicago in 2001 were 201, and they plummeted to 74 last year. She said the decline may have been caused in part by the problems noted in the national report, including funding shortages. In 2000, Horizons reported 109 cases.

Among Chicago’s numbers, 33 were in females, 36 males, one male-to-female transgendered and four were of unknown gender. The majority of victims were between the ages of 23-44. Twelve of the victims were African-American, 26 white, seven Latino/a, one Asian/Pacific Islander, one multi-racial and 27 were marked ‘unknown.’

The Chicago incidents hit peaks in January (12 cases), August (14) and December (10).

The national report contains information compiled during 2002 from 14 agencies that serve LGBT and HIV-affected victims of domestic violence in 11 regions around the country. There were three new regions in this year’s report: Pennsylvania, Burlington, Vt., and Tucson, Ariz. Programs contributing in both 2001 and 2002 were the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center’s STOP Partner Abuse Program, the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, Horizons Anti-Violence Program in Chicago, OutFront Minnesota, the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization in Columbus, Ohio, as well as Community United Against Violence, WOMAN, Inc., and Asian Woman’s Shelter, all in San Francisco, and the Violence Recovery Program of Fenway Community Health and The Network/La Red, both in Boston.

‘The information we’ve received from the new participating regions, in addition to the fact that the program in Los Angeles created new partnerships and collected data from previously unheard-from jurisdictions, is encouraging,’ said Rachel Baum, NCAVP’s Associate Director. ‘It shows that more communities are taking responsibility by recognizing that domestic violence occurs in LGBT relationships and are finding ways of addressing it. It means that in more areas more LGBT victims have options to help.’

‘It is critically important that we continue to discuss the issue of domestic violence, raise awareness around it and work to reduce the isolation of victims,’ said Emily Pitt, NCAVP’s Board Co-Chair and Coordinator of Fenway’s Violence Recovery Program. ‘This report, illustrating the experiences of those surviving and sometimes not surviving domestic violence is a tool that we can use to continue discussions,’ said Pitt.

The report also includes survivors’ stories and a summary of the expected effect of Lawrence v. Texas on the availability of civil court protective orders for LGBT people in states with sodomy laws.

See www.avp.org.