A Note on Terminology
Domestic violence/relationship abuse refers to intimate relationships, not child abuse. “Woman” encompasses all female-identifying individuals and nonbinary and genderqueer people. Relationship abuse happens at the same rate in LGBTQI+ relationships and all of the information on this site is relevant for male victims and for individuals in LGBTQI+ relationships. In addition, please see our resources on LGBTQI+ relationships. Our goal is to encourage helping professionals to be gender inclusive. This includes using gender-neutral language when working with individuals, while continuing to analyze gender as a construct that has implications on gender based violence in heterosexual and LGBTQI+ relationships.