Panel sheds light on dating violence in LGBTQ+ community

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indy Pride Inc. and Domestic Violence Network hosted a panel discussion on dating violence in the LGBT community.

The panel was designed to raise awareness, give victims resources to get help and educate the rest of the community on different ways to help.

“The biggest way you can help is to have the conversation with your friends, with your family, with children,” Chris Handberg of the Domestic Violence Network said,  “To believe those who experience violence if they disclose to you, but to really share the message that people don’t have to live in the darkness anymore.”

Handberg says it’s important that victims have a safety plan in place before they leave a relationship.

He says most violence occurs during a breakup.