A new publication by PhD student Emma Jennings-Fitz-Gerald and Professor Chris Smith examines police responses to coercive violence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer plus relationships, in which abusers may target their partner’s gender or sexual identity. The article (co-authored with N. Zoe Hilton, Dana L. Radatz, Jimin Lee, Elke Ham, and Natalie Snow) draws on an analysis of 35 international academic and gray publications. In these primary sources, the authors identify four themes, including reluctance to seek police help, as well as police harassment and violence leading to increased experiences of coercive control. They conclude that further research is needed to identify policies that benefit LGBTQ+ communities, as calls to criminalize coercive control may fall short. The full article is available now, open access, in Sociology Compass.
Emma Jennings-Fitz-Gerald is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology. Her research interests include military sociology, sexual misconduct at work, gender and crime, and intimate partner violence.
Chris Smith is Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Toronto. She researches gender and crime, criminal relationships, illicit markets, criminal organizations, and violence.