Who’s the Victim Here? The Role of Gender, Social Norms, and Heteronormativity in the IPV Gender Symmetry Debate

Intimate partner violence (IPV)Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has historically been perceived, and thus examined and explained, as a violent act perpetrated against women by men. However, self-report surveys indicate that heterosexual and gayGay males, as well as lesbiansLesbian, experience IPV at similar rates as heterosexual women. The question of whether IPV victimization is experienced symmetrically, by both women and men, is more difficult to answer than the data would suggest. Many barriers prevent the reporting of IPV such as gender roleGender roles expectations and heteronormative views of relationships. The Feminist TheoryFeminist theory explains IPVIntimate Partner Violence (IPV) as a form of power and control used to reinforce a patriarchal society, which explains a male-dominant or masculine perception of perpetrators. Other theories, such as Johnson’s Typology, suggest that the violence seen in IPV is bilateral in direction—or that both partners act as perpetrators and victims—which may explain gender-symmetryGender symmetry in IPVIntimate Partner Violence (IPV). To examine the question of gender symmetryGender symmetry in IPV, this chapter will describe the fundamental beliefs underlying the perceptions of relationships, partner and gender-rolesGender roles, and the social norms that create our perceptions of IPVIntimate Partner Violence (IPV).