Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Rainbow communities, defined here as people who are not heterosexual, heteroromantic, or cisgender, experience disproportionately high levels of family and sexual violence. However, violence prevention services in Aotearoa New Zealand often fail to meet their needs, particularly for those situated at the intersectional margins. Underpinned by the Culture-Centered Approach, which works with communities to identify challenges and corresponding solutions, this study explores strategies to prevent violence against rainbow communities through in-depth interviews with 31 service providers and 60 rainbow community members. Participants described violence as being deeply connected to heteronormative cultural norms and structural factors such as poverty, homelessness, and discrimination. The study extends culture-centered approaches to violence prevention by foregrounding heteronormativity and structural inequality, offering community-informed directions for more inclusive prevention efforts. These contributions advance knowledge on how violence prevention efforts can better support rainbow communities through both service-level change and structural transformation.
Institution: Massey University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7161491464