The purpose of this study is to examine domestic violence as it occurs in same-sex male relationships. Data were collected by in-depth interviews with twenty-five gay males, who were between the ages of 23 and 43, and who had previous experience being in a homosexual relationship where domestic violence was present. The major findings of this study include the respondents': 1) definitions of domestic violence and abuse; 2) the type of domestic violence or abuse personally experienced; and 3) reasons they believe domestic violence or abuse occurs in these types of relationships. This study illustrates the need for further research in this area of domestic violence and for programs or services targeted for this specific population.

This dissertation is a critical, performative exploration and analysis of mother-son incest as a site for educational inquiry. Particular attention is given to the sexual abuse of gay males. The text challenges and re-enacts personal and social perceptions of taboos as spaces of silence, trauma, and transformation, drawing on discourses of anti-oppressive pedagogy and narratives of healing. My views of anti-oppressive pedagogy, influenced by Freire, Kumashiro, and others, trouble taboos as personal, political, and cultural narratives. This inter/play of texts serves to acknowledge painful histories associated with incest and, on a conceptual level, to explore secrets, silences and shame around sexual abuse inbedded in cultural curriculum. Curriculum stems from currere meaning "to run," as in a course, and narrative stems from narrare meaning to make known. When both terms are juxtaposed they suggest a running from knowing. What if traumatic sexual abuse histories were placed at the center of pedagogical inquiry? Presented as a work of fiction, my dissertation is informed by an extensive literature review of motherson incest. The image of a mother as a perpetrator of sexual abuse is antithetical to mythohistoric constructions of motherhood. Literature on incest reveals that men are less often viewed as abuse victims, that gay men experience much higher histories of abuse than heterosexuals, that homosexuality and early childhood sexual abuse may be correlated, and that both homosexuality and sexual abuse remain acutely silenced topics in education. All of this generates a lifelong sequelae of problems for male survivors. Trauma necessitates a critical and creative reconsideration of educational research as a site of narrative inquiry and healing. The methodology I employed is mythopoetics presented in the form of a fairy tale within a play. Drawing on the fairy tale genre's tradition as a vehicle for imparting moral and ethical messages, the encompassing play creates a forum for dialogue and disruption of the tale. Music, art, and photographs are integrated into the text to augment the mythopoetic presentation. Mythopoetics becomes an avenue of make believe and a framework for anti-oppressive pedagogy. If education is about learning new ways of being and becoming in the world, we need to re/collect difficult subjects in order to transform lived experiences of learners. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

　　　1 January 2010 was a milestone for the survivors and victims of same-sex domestic violence in Hong Kong. After a hard fought legislative battle, the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance (DCRVO) was extended to cover cohabitation relationships irrespective of sexual orientation. 　　　With the inclusion of same-sex cohabitants in the legislation, gay survivors are provided the same legal protection as different sex couples. It is believed that equality has been achieved for gay victims, in theory at least. Indeed, the topic of same-sex domestic violence seemed to vanish from the public sphere as soon as the Ordinance was enacted. Nevertheless, considering the cultural and social obstacles experienced by gay victims of domestic violence, e.g. social perception of homosexuality and the fear of being ‘outed’ by reporting the incidents, coupled with a lack of supplementary support services available to people with alternative sexual orientations, it is uncertain how effective this amendment will be to Hong Kong sexual minorities in practice. Therefore, the primary research question for this thesis is to what extent the DCRVO is effective in protecting in practice. 　　　This research question will be answered by a combination of qualitative and quantitative empirical research methods. This paper focuses on three areas particularly - the awareness amongst the gay community in Hong Kong of the legislation; the availability of same-sex domestic violence support services; and the subsequent complementary policies provided by the government. This study argues that without adequate complementary policies, the DCRVO will always remain to be a piece of work in progress, and not the ultimate solution for gay victims in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Law / Master / Master of Philosophy