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This reflection addresses the challenge which violence and abuse in women's same-sex relationships pose to lesbian feminist conceptualizations of woman-to-woman relationships as egalitarian and non-violent. Whilst recognizing the value of the ideals which lesbian feminism promoted in terms of presenting an alternative to patriarchal oppression and domination, this reflection draws upon data from the author's qualitative study of woman-to-woman partner abuse to identify the implications of such ideals for women's disclosure of and understanding of their experiences of abuse. For some participants, the pervasiveness of expectations of mutuality and non-violence in woman-to-woman relationships contributed to the silence and denial which surrounds woman-to-woman partner abuse. In spite of this, this reflection maintains that there is still scope for lesbian feminism to make a positive contribution towards promoting democratic, egalitarian, and non-abusive relationships. In order for this to be possible however, lesbian feminist thinking must first develop a more inclusive understanding of woman-to-woman relationships which confronts the reality that some women's experiences of woman-to-woman relationships run contrary to the longed-for lesbian utopia which was central to 1970s lesbian feminist ideals.

On December 15, 2011, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (''ECtHR'') issued its final ruling in Al-Khawaja & Tahery v. United Kingdom. This highly anticipated ruling reexamined the United Kingdom's laws that allowed convictions based primarily on the statement of a witness unavailable for cross-examination. This is the second time the ECtHR has visited this issue, after the U.K. courts declined to follow the earlier ECtHR's decision that found that the U.K. law violated the European Convention on Human Rights (''European Convention'').

1. Introduction -- 2. Producing Stories About Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: The Coral Project Methodology -- 3. Queering Quantitative Stories of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse -- 4. Barriers to Recognising Domestic Violence and Abuse: Power, Resistance and the Re-Storying of 'Mutual Abuse' -- 5. Hearing a New Story About Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse -- 6. Conclusion: Telling Different Stories About Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse.

Domestic abuse is often hidden in church contexts. Despite a body of North American research, it has rarely been researched in the UK. This article offers new empirical findings on the nature and extent of, and attitudes to, domestic abuse among churchgoers. The data are drawn from a cross-denominational survey of 438 churchgoers in rural north-west England. The majority of the survey respondents were female and aged over 60, providing important evidence of domestic abuse victimisation among this seldom-heard group. Using a broad measure of domestic abuse encompassing physical, emotional, sexual, financial and spiritual dimensions, the results revealed that one in four had experienced at least one abusive behaviour in their current intimate relationship. While headline figures for prevalence are similar for women and men, analysis revealed gender differences in four areas: number of abusive behaviours experienced, types of abuse, frequency of victimisation and impacts of abuse, with women experiencing the most frequent and high-impact abuse. Churchgoers' comments on the church's response to abuse reveals silence as a key theme, and the article attributes the church's silence to gendered power relations in the wider church.

Drawing on interview data collected in three projects exploring domestic abuse in LGB and/or T+ people's intimate relationships, this chapter examines sexual consent in LGB and/or T+ people's abusive relationships through a queer lens. Three themes are considered. First, Catherine Donovan and Marianne Hester's two 'relationship rules' underpinning abusive relationships are applied. These determine that the relationship is for the abusive partner and on their terms; and that the victim/survivor is responsible for everything, including their partner's abusive behaviour. Participants' accounts show how these relationship rules can delegitimate victim/survivors' attempts to exercise consent and conversely legitimate non-consensual sex. Second, Carole Pateman's 'sexual contract' is drawn upon to demonstrate how abusive partners mandate sex whenever and however they wish, while victimised partners feel duty-bound to acquiesce. This, it is argued, reproduces cis-heteronormative sexual scripts based on public stories about love and intimacy and conventionally gendered binaries such as initiator/follower. Third, accounts demonstrating how more experienced LGB and/or T+ partners can exercise experiential power to instil norms about sex and intimacy are analysed. It is concluded that these abusive practices frame the context in which sexual victimisation occurs in LGB and/or T+ people's intimate relationships and inhibit victims/survivors from recognising and naming sexual violence.

BACKGROUND: Frequent attenders (FAs) in primary care receive considerable resources with uncertain benefit. Only some FAs attend persistently. Modestly successful models have been built to predict persistent attendance. Nevertheless, an association between relational continuity of care and persistent frequent attendance remains unclear, and could be important considering both the UK government and Royal College of General Practitioner's (RCGP) aim of improving continuity. AIM: To identify predictive measures (including continuity) for persistent frequent attendance that may be modified in future interventions. DESIGN & SETTING: This is a retrospective cohort study sampling 35 926 adult patients registered in seven Bristol practices. METHOD: The top 3% (1227) of patients by frequency of GP consultations over 6 months were classed as FAs. Individual relational continuity was measured over the same period using the Usual Provider Continuity (UPC) index. Attendance change was calculated for the following 6 months. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine variables that predicted attendance change. RESULTS: FAs were on average 8.41 years older (difference 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.33 to 9.50, P<0.001) and more likely to be female (65.36% versus 57.88%) than non-FAs. In total, 79.30% of FAs decreased attendance over the subsequent 6 months. No association was found between continuity and subsequent attendance. Increasing age was associated with maintained frequent attendance. CONCLUSION: Continuity does not predict change in frequent attendance. In addition to improving continuity, recent government policy is focused on increasing primary care access. If both aims are achieved it will be interesting to observe any effect on frequent attendance.

Background: Frequent attenders (FAs) in primary care receive considerable resources with uncertain benefit. Only some FAs attend persistently. Modestly successful models have been built to predict persistent attendance. Nevertheless, an association between relational continuity of care and persistent frequent attendance remains unclear, and could be important considering both the UK government and Royal College of General Practitioner's (RCGP) aim of improving continuity. Aim: To identify predictive measures (including continuity) for persistent frequent attendance that may be modified in future interventions.Design & setting: This is a retrospective cohort study sampling 35 926 adult patients registered in seven Bristol practices. Method: The top 3% (1227) of patients by frequency of GP consultations over 6 months were classed as FAs. Individual relational continuity was measured over the same period using the Usual Provider Continuity (UPC) index. Attendance change was calculated for the following 6 months. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine variables that predicted attendance change. Results: FAs were on average 8.41 years older (difference 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.33 to 9.50, P<0.001) and more likely to be female (65.36% versus 57.88%) than non-FAs. In total, 79.30% of FAs decreased attendance over the subsequent 6 months. No association was found between continuity and subsequent attendance. Increasing age was associated with maintained frequent attendance. Conclusion: Continuity does not predict change in frequent attendance. In addition to improving continuity, recent government policy is focused on increasing primary care access. If both aims are achieved it will be interesting to observe any effect on frequent attendance.