Support for transgender DV victims needs improvement, says researcher

By Greg Chapman

New CQUniversity led research has found that intimate partner violence (IPV) within transgender relationships is largely being ignored.

That’s according to CQU research student Aaron Sylvian, who’s study came about after he discovered that transgender research into IPV was not only limited in Australia, but also grouped into the broader LGBTQ communities. 

Aaron is one of seven research students who will receive their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the 2026 CQUniversity Brisbane Graduation Ceremony on 14 August.

His thesis project, Intimate partner violence in Australian transgender relationships: An interpretive phenomenological study, had five key findings: 

• coercive control theory should go beyond its usual focus on heterosexual relationships, since participants described control tactics linked to their transgender identity
• the prevalence of cisgender women as perpetrators challenges the usual gendered assumptions in IPV research
• many participants had trouble recognising their experiences as abuse, especially when the abuse was non-physical or intertwined with what felt like gender affirmation in the relationship
• the participants often avoided seeking help because they feared transphobia, being let down by institutions, or not being believed and;
• many said the abuse started during important moments in their gender journey, like coming out or starting transition, which may be times of greater risk

“These findings show that IPV frameworks need to reflect the specific experiences of transgender people better,” Aaron said.

He said his research was conducted through interviews with nine participants who had experiences with IPV.

“To find participants, I advertised my study on Australian transgender community Facebook pages, which led to nine people taking part. I then carried out semi-structured interviews with each of them, giving them space to speak openly and in their own words about their experiences. I then analysed this interview data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) principles. 

“This approach suited my research well. Experiences of IPV among transgender people are often reduced to prevalence rates and statistics, which, while useful, can flatten the complexity of what these experiences involve. IPA is designed for topics that are sensitive or under-researched, where the main goal is to understand what an experience means to the people who have lived through that experience.”

From the research Aaron made several recommendations to better support transgender people affected by IPV, including making transgender cultural competency training for domestic violence service providers mandatory.

“From a practice perspective, trauma-informed approaches that recognise how gender identity development intersects with recovery from IPV is important because abusers may specifically target a person’s gender identity or expression as a form of control, meaning that recovery support needs to address this dimension directly rather than treating it as incidental to the abuse,” he said.

He also said revising eligibility rules so that no one is excluded from domestic violence support because of their gender identity or transition status was warranted, along with specialised programs for transgender victim-survivors.

“Domestic violence support services and policymakers must actively involve transgender people and communities in shaping the policies, programs, and services designed to support them,” he said.

“These should not be developed without their input. This inclusion matters because it directly affects outcomes for transgender victim-survivors. Without it, transgender victim-survivors may have no real option but to stay with their abuser or may face re-traumatisation when trying to leave.”

The 2026 CQUniversity Brisbane Graduation Ceremony will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 14 August.