New research from Galop, undertaken by YouGov, shows that two in five LGBT+ victims of domestic abuse have no support from friends or family – and that three in five receive no professional help from support services.

The nationally representative study shows that LGBT+ victims of domestic abuse face a postcode lottery in being able to access professional support, with 81% of LGBT+ people experiencing domestic abuse in parts of the country where there are no specialist LGBT+ services. Some respondents described themselves as “lucky” to have lived or worked in or near a larger town or city, because it meant they were more likely to be able to access support.

An LGBT+ domestic abuse survivor said: “Where I live there is hardly any support, and I would be scared of outing myself if I did get help.” The most common reason given by those who didn’t try to access professional support was that LGBT+ victims were unaware of suitable support available to them. As one respondent said: “non-LGBT+ services looked at me like an alien”.

With not enough services available for LGBT+ domestic abuse victims, Galop’s research shows that a significant number are also not receiving support from friends, family, and colleagues. Trans and non-binary domestic abuse survivors were significantly less likely to have help from their family, with only one in eight receiving support from someone in their family.

One domestic abuse survivor said: “I was living with my parents at the time. They would have found a way to blame me for it, so it was easier to keep it to myself.”

Leni Morris, Galop CEO, said: “LGBT+ victims of abuse and violence are being let down by the systems in this country. No victim of domestic abuse should be left without support, no matter where they live or who they are.

LGBT+ people exist outside of large cities, and the abuse that we face does not depend on our postcode. Yet, in many parts of the UK, there are simply no services built for the LGBT+ community. We must ensure that LGBT+ victims of abuse are able to access the support they want and need when and where they need it.

This report shows there is far more demand for support than there is capacity to provide it – with nine times more LGBT+ victims wanting intensive practical support than were able to get it. With such significant numbers of LGBT+ people unable to access the support they need, we are calling on the UK Government to ensure high quality specialist support services are available to LGBT+ victims of abuse, wherever they are in this country.”