Launch of Out of Sight Out of Mind Campaign in Lothian and Borders

Wednesday, 7th April, 2010

Edinburgh and the Lothian’s launched their Out of Sight Out of Mind campaign on Thursday 1st April 2010 in partnership with Scotland’s national LGBT domestic abuse project. We hope the campaign will make its way to all parts of Scotland with the support of key local partners. In the Edinburgh and Lothian area, Lothian and Borders Police funded the campaign with additional funding support from the Lothian Violence Against Women Training Consortium.

The campaign is called Out of Sight, Out of Mind, and seeks to raise awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’s experience of domestic abuse, an issue which is still very much out of sight.

There are at least 500,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people living in Scotland. Approximately 1 in 4 LGBT people will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime.

The campaign is comprised of an awareness raising poster and an information leaflet with a range of local contacts for LGBT people who are experiencing domestic abuse.

“The reality is that domestic abuse is being experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Scotland, however LGBT people’s experience of domestic abuse is still very much hidden and many incidents of domestic abuse go unreported.   There are certain unique aspects of domestic abuse that LGBT people may experience, including the threat or reality of being ‘outed’ by an abusive partner or ex-partner.

LGBT people may also fear they will experience discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity when trying to access support.  This campaign seeks to promote services which are inclusive of LGBT people experiencing domestic abuse while highlighting to LGBT people that there is help out there.”

The LGBT Domestic Abuse Project has been funded by the Scottish Government to work on  raising awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender domestic abuse. For more information: www.lgbtdomesticabuse.org.uk