Publications

Please download, share and make use of them!

Hardcover copies of the reports are available on request.

Bi The Way: A Guide to Bisexual+ Research (Cavarra, R., Amos, N., & Muller, J. 2023).

MBN worked with research staff at Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University (ARCSHS) to create an updated set of guidelines on Bi+ inclusive research, “Bi The Way: A Guide to Bisexual+ Research”.

This is the first guideline of its kind in Australia, and the first internationally in over 10 years. It was produced using one of the first and largest grants awarded for Bisexual specific projects from the Victorian government, run by a small volunteer group hitting above its weight to make an impact. Given the state of wellbeing for Bi+ people, it is crucial we improve research for this population, and we believe these guidelines will help.

Bisexual and multigender attracted people constitute the majority of non-exclusively heterosexual people by current best estimates. (Gallup, 2021) Yet research that meaningfully includes bi+ people in positive ways is relatively new, and funding for bi+ specific research is chronically low (Lawther et. al, 2022). Much of the research currently being published either does not include bisexuality as a separate category of sexual identity/experience, or when it does, misses key factors of context, language, or framing. Both of these oversights unfortunately contribute to biphobic myths, stigma, and discrimination, without substantially improving outcomes for bi+ people.

This set of guidelines aims to build upon these to support research into bi+ people and ensure this work more accurately represent the community, is inclusive of community needs, and relevant to important contemporary issues of sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour.

Citation: Cavarra, R., Amos, N., & Muller, J. (2023). Bi the Way: A Guide to Bisexual+ Research. Melbourne Bisexual Network.

View a recording of the panel presentation at the launch of the research reports at RMIT, in September 2023. This event formed part of the annual national bi+ conference, Stand Bi Us.

Intimate Partner Violence: Bi+ Inclusive Practice Report (Loomis, A, Mountford, R., Muller, J., McKay, P., & Grigg, M. 2023).

The purpose of this project was to collaborate with organisations working in violence prevention and response (Safe and Equal and Berry Street) to create bi+ inclusive practice resources, and to improve outcomes for bi+ women in their care.

Bi+ women experience high rates of IPV (intimate partner violence), are often failed by the health and justice systems and yet are largely invisible from current IPV frameworks and practice.

Misogyny and biphobia intersect to produce bimisogyny, which fetishizes and villainizes bisexuality, resulting in stereotypes and prejudices about bi+ women, including that they are promiscuous and deceitful, and that bisexuality is a temporary or unstable orientation. Bimisogyny is both a driver of violence against bi+ women and a barrier to bi+ women accessing appropriate support.

Significant work is needed to develop interventions which prevent and respond to these stereotypes to create safer communities for bi+ women.

The report contains five recommendations to address these issues.

Citation: Loomis, A, Mountford, R., Muller, J., McKay, P., & Grigg, M. (2023). Intimate Partner Violence: Bi+ Inclusive Practice Report. Melbourne Bisexual Network.

View a recording of the Research Reports Launch at RMIT, September 2023. This event formed part of the annual national bi+ conference, Stand Bi Us.