James D. Wilets, ‘Conceptualizing private violence against sexual minorities as gendered violence: An international and comparative perspective’, Albany Law Review, 60, 990–1049, 1997

Abstract

To the extent that violence against women and sexual minorities(1) is predicated upon assumptions of a polar construction of gender, (2) in which nonconformity with gender role expectations is enforced through violent and non-violent means, it is possible to speak of violence against both groups as rooted in a system of male dominance.(3) Understanding the commonality of the gendered nature of violence against the two groups can assist in formulating a response under international and national law to violence against both women and sexual minorities that reflects the common gendered societal assumptions and mechanisms which foster such violence. Indeed, this Article’s central thesis is that oppression based on sexual minority status is, to a great extent, gender oppression.