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“It was like sugar-coated words”: Revictimization when South Asian immigrant women disclose domestic violence

Abstract
This qualitative study explores South Asian immigrant women's experiences of domestic violence, their views on help-seeking, and access to informal or formal sources of supports. Drawing from grounded theory approaches, this article focuses on one major theme, revictimization, which provides insights into the mistreatment and experiences of seven women who encountered challenges when disclosing abuse. Through an intersectional lens, this article examines how participants were revictimized and mistreated by people within and outside their own community including service providers who they trusted. Implications to reduce levels of mistrust for community members and service providers working with this specific population in Canada are discussed.
Authors: Wendy Aujla Publication Date: 5/1/2021

Publication Type: Journal Article

URL:https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109920916038
Notes

Key findings

  • Gender intersects across migration, religion, and cultural practices to revictimize SA women
  • Professionals and SA community members silence women and perpetuate abuse
  • Domestic violence is not always between intimate partner relationship; sometimes it is between extended family, or in-laws. The perpetrator is any dominant member in the family.
  • Types of domestic violence range between multiple types of abuse such as physical, psychological, sexual, spiritual, economic and financial
  • Participants indicated that individuals within the community may frequently be unhelpful, due to similar beliefs to that of the abuser, and normalization of DV, and not wanting to get involved
  • Decreased cultural awareness in women’s organizations and in the police may result in decreased comfort for women seeking support, and may result in a further barrier for women attempting to flee dangerous situations

Location

  • Edmonton
  • Alberta

Key recommendations

  • Re-conceptualize DV
  • Train social work practitioners to adopt culturally relevant responses informed by intersectional awareness when providing support to immigrant women experiencing DV
  • Further education for individuals in SA communities, in order to encourage support and empowerment to women to disclose their experience of DV and rebuild trust
  • Cultural and religious leader to assist with changing strong cultural stigmas that serve as barriers to disclosure of DV experience

Gaps identified

  • Little is written from the perspective of South Asian (SA) immigrant women with lived experiences of domestic violence
  • Studies on domestic violence is limited to larger metropolitan cities such as Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver
  • Experiences of SA immigrant women when they seek informal and formal support for their DV experiences is underexplored
  • Use an intersectionality lens in understanding the many intersecting ways through which
  • Difficult to recruit women from smaller SA communities
  • Aim for larger sample size in future studies

Community organizations

Recruitment of participants done through South Asian women organizations (SAWO) and mainstream services organizations (MSO) in Edmonton but names of these organizations were excluded in the study to protect participants

Key populations

South Asian immigrant women

Integration timeline

At what point during the integration process the study was conducted?

Undefined but some participants are newcomers

Open-access – No


Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc
Collections women

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