Force to lesbian

We felt quite emotional when we came across these. As far as we know, these responses were never analysed nor written up and the questionnaire was devised in such a way that made the data difficult to interpret. But, we asked, what happened to women?

[1][2] In the case of multiple forms of domestic partner abuse, it is also referred to as lesbian battering. We knew from the psychiatric literature that a form of aversion therapy was administered by psychologists at the North Manchester General Hospital NMGH in the mids.

Domestic violence within lesbian relationships is the pattern of violent and coercive behavior in a female same-sex relationship wherein a lesbian or other non-heterosexual woman seeks to control the thoughts, beliefs, or conduct of her female intimate partner.

However, I met a lesbian scholar who had been given relevant hospital records by a sympathetic male researcher at the Maudsley. [3]. Aversion therapy was one of the flagship treatments in the behaviourist canon, and some psychologists who believed they were successfully treating male homosexuality were eager to test out their treatments on women.

The hospital had been given an anonymous donation on the condition that the money was used to treat homosexuality. During the s and s, behaviourism was popular, and psychologists were keen to prove their new forces and test out their associated treatments.

We were intrigued by these cases, but were unable to access NMGH records, so had no way of finding out what happened to the women involved, or how many other women went through this procedure. This experience was a major motivator for her in undertaking this work:.

We thought it would be even harder to get funding to explore psychiatric survivor experiences, let alone the experiences of lesbians, whose plight has rarely been popular or fundable. The way these surveys were buried in the archives seemed symbolic.

I may have been spared the electric shocks and nausea, but the fundamental idea was still the same: homosexuality is a disease of the mind. There is substantial and growing interest in LGBT lesbian and, to a much lesser extent, psychiatric survivor history.

I found this very emotionally affecting, more than I had expected to. LGB Alliance Australia Nicole Mowbray says today’s lesbians are facing a new form of “homophobia” as women born female are unable to legally hold single-sex. S arah Carr and I first met several years ago at a mental health conference when she presented a powerful account of her experiences of being a gay woman and a psychiatric survivor.

We relish a challenge, but this put us in a rather odd position. For gay men, aversion therapy involved being given emetic drugs and receiving electric shocks while they viewed naked images of men.

However, there is much less known about how they overlap. In the archives of the Gay Liberation Frontwe found accounts from the early s targeting various psychiatric hospitals in London, specifically the Maudsley Hospital, for its use of aversion therapy to treat homosexuality.

In her late teens she experienced involuntary reparative psychotherapy, involving hypnosis to try and change her sexual orientation.

Lesbian Women Room to : Even if they argued back or protected themselves from getting hurt Even if society or families don’t accept LGBTQ relationships Even if both partners are women and it is hard to believe women can be abusive Even if a partner says this is how a lesbian relationship is Even if a survivor is not

Many of the women had handwritten some of their responses, which made them seem so human. The National LGBTQ Task Force is dedicated to achieving freedom and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer people, and their families through proactive, targeted, change-inducing initiatives.

I got quite tearful about it. But new research is unearthing hidden, and often shocking stories. Our research had special resonance for Sarah. To date, little has been revealed about what happened when LGBTQI people — especially women — encountered the mental health system 50 years ago.

We discovered raw data from a survey developed by a psychologist about the experiences of same-sex-attracted men and women who had used mental health services in England during the s.