ICLC – Intersex people and domestic violence

[Shana A]

ICLC – Intersex people and domestic violence

Posted on 08 March 2011
Kate-Duffy

http://www.starobserver.com.au/opinion/2011/03/08/iclc-intersex-people-and-domestic-violence/46479

For intersex people, experiencing abuse in an intimate relationship can add a further layer of secrecy and shame to what may already be a secret existence.

[...]

In intimate relationships perpetrators of domestic violence can use a person's intersex as another means of power and control over them.

"My boyfriend slowly and subtly began controlling how I identified. At first he would say he liked it when I looked 'feminine' and always asked me to wear dresses, skirts and makeup. He then started saying he didn't want to be seen as 'gay' and that if I wanted to be with him, I would have to stop expressing myself as intersex. I didn't know what to do.