Paddick: I suffered same-sex violence
Updated on 02 December 2009
Brian Paddick, former Met police deputy assistant commissioner, reveals how personal experience undermined his confidence in police protection for gay victims of domestic violence.
While the Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon joined MPs and campaigners at the House of Commons to highlight the problem of domestic violence, a report showed 54 per cent of people questioned would not know where to turn if someone they knew was suffering domestic violence.
Hidden in the statistics, but rarely highlighted, is the high level of domestic violence among gay couples.
It is an issue that gay people say is often not taken seriously by the police.
Paddick claimed in his autobiography he was the victim of same-sex domestic violence more than 10 years ago and did not report the incidents because he felt the police would not take the issue seriously.
He told More4 News: "I though the police were homophobic, I had some experience of that.
"I thought the last thing I wanted to do was to show that I had been the victim of a gay relationship.
"I was trying to conceal the fact that I was gay but I think it was fairly widely known in the force.
"There is still a lot of suspicion between the gay community and the police and a lot of people don't want to declare the fact that they are gay.
"Of course if you are in an abusive gay relationship, the only way you can report that is by being open about your sexuality and a lot of people don't want to do that.
"I think domestic violence is just as common, if not more common, in gay relationships as in the straight community but many people are afraid of coming out as openly gay and the perpetrators of domestic violence know that so they believe their partner won't report things to the police because they don't want to be open about their sexuality.
"It's still a hidden crime in the gay community. It's not talked about. There is a feeling that the gay community gets enough bad press as it is without airing its dirty washing in public by admitting the level to the level of domestic violence that do occur.
"We need to be more open about this so that people in abusive relationships realise they are not alone, perhaps realise the situation they are in, and hopefully the police will give them a fair hearing.
"The police are much more accepting of the gay community than they were. I didn't go to the police because I didn't want to be open about my sexuality and the type of relationship I was in. I was too embarrassed."
Gay people who suffer domestic violence should contact Broken Rainbow on 0300 999 5428
