Lesbians in the UK in 2024: What do we know?

The Lesbian Project is delighted to publish the fifth of six reviews of evidence about lesbian wellbeing by researchers Matilda Gosling and Diane Stoianov.

In what we believe to be a unique project of its kind, these researchers have reviewed hundreds of existing pieces of publicly available research in order to pull out information about lesbian wellbeing in the UK and beyond, building a picture of what is already known or hypothesised as well as where the gaps are.

The result is a fascinating series on life for lesbians today; but one which also indicates where future research is needed, as well as illuminating some important methodological issues hampering robust findings in research on lesbians specifically.

Safety

The fifth of our reviews covers safety.  We found evidence that, for instance:

• Many risk factors for domestic abuse and revictimisation are shared with women in heterosexual relationships, including low-self esteem and alcohol abuse on the part of the perpetrator; others are unique, such as whether sexual orientation has been disclosed.

• Many barriers to leaving abusive relationships are also shared with heterosexual women, including caring about their abusers.

• Lesbians may fail to realise they have been victims of domestic abuse due to nonviolent stereotypes about women; they may struggle to get professional support for the same reason.

• A higher proportion of lesbians are sexually assaulted than heterosexual women, and a higher proportion have also experienced severe childhood sexual abuse. Experience of sexual assault is linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes.

Limitations in existing research

Alongside our reviews, we are also publishing a Research Overview, detailing the approach taken by our researchers in compiling the evidence reviews and discussing important limitations they discovered on the robustness of research findings. This document is written to be read alongside our evidence reviews.

As the researchers conclude: “Even the highest-quality evidence – systematic reviews and meta-analyses – are often poor quality when they summarise data about lesbians, due to problems with the underlying studies that inform them.”

They identify several large issues with methodology, quality, and evidence gaps, meaning that it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about lesbians in the UK in many areas.

In future work, the Lesbian Project intends to lobby for better evidence-gathering about lesbian life, as well as commissioning independent research of its own (subject to funding).