Nov 10
15
Findings from another study on lesbian parenting
Toronto Star – November 15, 2010
Teens of lesbian moms report zero per cent abuse rate: Study’s findings could shift views on same-sex parent families
By Allison Cross
Adolescents raised in lesbian-headed households are less likely to endure physical or sexual abuse by a parent or caregiver, suggests a new report from a longterm U.S. study of lesbian families. Out of 39 sons and 39 daughters of lesbian mothers, all aged 17, who completed an online questionnaire, none reported ever being physically or sexually abused by a parent or caregiver, the report says. “For many decades now, the opponents of same-sex parenting have alleged that same-sex parents are more likely to abuse their children and therefore shouldn’t be given custody or be allowed to adopt or foster children,” says the study’s lead researcher Nanette Gartrell, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, San Francisco. “And, those allegations have made their way into legislation … it’s important that allegations of abuse can be countered with scientific data.”
The findings, published last week in the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, are part of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, now in its 24th year. The report compares the zero per cent abuse rate in lesbian-headed households to the 26 per cent of American adolescents who report being physically abused by a parent or caregiver, and the 8.3 per cent who report sexual abuse. The latter numbers are taken from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence.
Women are generally less likely to initiate violence, Gartrell says, which contributed to the zero rate of abuse in this report.