Discrimination against non-heterosexual women takes various forms, from overt homophobia to heterosexism. Heterosexism assumes that all people are heterosexual and incorporates mainstream attitudes that value heterosexuality more highly than other types of sexuality.  Comparison with heterosexual people shows that lesbian and gay people with mental illness have suffered significantly more day to day and lifetime discrimination and almost half of this is directly related to their sexuality. Lesbian and bisexual women report rates of depression, anxiety disorders and suicidal ideation that are two-three times higher than women in the general population. An Australian population-based study has shown higher use of all substances, both licit and illicit among non-heterosexual women.

These mental health and substance-(mis)use disparities are thought to relate to high levels of stress due to homophobia, higher rates of abuse and experiences of victimisation and lack of social support, rather than to sexuality per se.

It is particularly significant that fear of discrimination and homophobia are primary factors in the under-reporting of family violence among lesbian and bisexual women. Consequently, precise figures regarding prevalence cannot be determined; however it is thought that family violence occurs in comparable rates to those of heterosexual women. Isolation and limited access to services is a major factor for most women living with family violence however, for lesbians this is highlighted even further because of the lack of civil rights protection and limited access to the legal system. This contributes to lesbian women being among the most isolated of women who experience family violence.

The hidden nature of family violence when a parent has not ‘come out’ ‘means that the children are silenced or feel unable to acknowledge the impact of the abuse on them for fear of publicly compromising their birth parent’s relationship.’
Even when a woman is open about her relationship, her children may be aware of the potential for negative reactions from teachers, friends or the parents of their friends.

A common occurrence within a lesbian relationship is ‘that (the) birth parent is not automatically the primary care-giver of the child. In those cases where the abuse is from the birth-parent to the primary care-giver, children also lose a sense of safety and security when they lose the primary care-giver (who has no legal rights) and are left with the perpetrator.’

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