Internalized Heterosexism and Exposed Psychological Intimate Partner Violence: Experiences of Lesbian and Bisexual Women in Turkey and Denmark

Abstract

The current study investigates how associations between internalized heterosexism (IH) and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization differ for lesbian vs. bisexual (LB) women in Denmark, where queer people are relatively well accepted, and Turkey, where discrimination is still very high. The first purpose of the current study is to explore differences in the prevalence of psychological IPV victimization as a function of sexual orientation (LB women) and country (Denmark and Turkey). As the second purpose, we look at the moderating role of sexual orientation and moderated moderating role of country on the association between IH and psychological IPV victimization. A sample of 257 LB women aged 18–71 years (M= 33.23,SD= 11.15) from Denmark and 152 LB women aged 18–52 years (M= 28.88,SD= 7.70) from Turkey participated. The results of chi-square analyses indicate that LB women from Turkey reported significantly higher psychological IPV victimization than LB women from Denmark. Lesbian than bisexual women from both countries reported more hostile withdrawal and dominance/intimidation-related psychological IPV victimization. The results of moderated moderation analyses reveal that lesbian women in Turkey and bisexual women in Denmark with higher IH were more likely to report experiencing denigration acts. Mental health professionals working with queer psychological IPV survivors may benefit from understanding that IH is associated with LB women’s victimization of psychological IPV, which might be further associated with mental health challenges.