“It Never Goes Away”: Chinese Immigrant Women’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Objective: Very little research has been conducted on intimate partner violence (IPV) against Chinese immigrant women living in the United States, including qualitative explorations of the lived experiences of IPV among Chinese immigrant survivors. This study presents Chinese immigrant women’s experiences of IPV and its mental health consequences, with a focus on the roles of traditional culture, immigration, and acculturation in survivors’ experiences. Method: Phone interviews were conducted with 20 Chinese immigrant women living in the United States who had experienced IPV during the past year. Participants’ mean age was 29 years; they were recruited via social network sites. Results: Almost all participants reported emotional abuse, three reported physical violence, and one reported sexual violence. They experienced “cold violence” frequently, and they described how IPV tortured them mentally. The women shared their thoughts on how their experiences of IPV were shaped by traditional Chinese patriarchal family structure, immigration, financial and legal dependence on their abuser, adjustment to life in the United States, and social isolation. Conclusions: There is a need for further research on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of “cold violence” and the development and validation of measures for this type of abuse. It is important to consider culture, immigration, and acculturation in services for Chinese immigrant women who experience IPV. Culturally appropriate, accessible services are needed to meet these women’s needs.

Full text

“It Never Goes Away”: Chinese Immigrant Women’s Experiences of
Intimate Partner Violence
Yang Li
1
, Fanghong Dong
2
, Linda F. C. Bullock
3
, Yuhui Liu
4
, and Tina Bloom
5
1
School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin
2
School of Nursing, Hebei University
3
School of Nursing, University of Missouri
4
Trulaske College of Business, University of Missouri
5
School of Nursing, Notre Dame of Maryland University
Objective: Very little research has been conducted on intimate partner violence (IPV) against Chinese
immigrant women living in the United States, including qualitative explorations of the lived experiences of
IPV among Chinese immigrant survivors. This study presents Chinese immigrant women’s experiences of
IPV and its mental health consequences, with a focus on the roles of traditional culture, immigration, and
acculturation in survivors’experiences. Method: Phone interviews were conducted with 20 Chinese
immigrant women living in the United States who had experienced IPV during the past year. Participants’
mean age was 29 years; they were recruited via social network sites. Results: Almost all participants
reported emotional abuse, three reported physical violence, and one reported sexual violence. They
experienced “cold violence”frequently, and they described how IPV tortured them mentally. The women
shared their thoughts on how their experiences of IPV were shaped by traditional Chinese patriarchal family
structure, immigration, financial and legal dependence on their abuser, adjustment to life in the United
States, and social isolation. Conclusions: There is a need for further research on the prevalence, causes, and
consequences of “cold violence”and the development and validation of measures for this type of abuse. It is
important to consider culture, immigration, and acculturation in services for Chinese immigrant women who
experience IPV. Culturally appropriate, accessible services are needed to meet these women’s needs.
Keywords: intimate partner violence, Chinese immigrant women, culture, immigration, qualitative study
Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000400.supp
Intimate partner violence (IPV) includes physical, emotional, or
sexual abuse by a current or former intimate partner (World Health
Organization [WHO], 2012). IPV is a highly prevalent social and
health issue worldwide, with serious physical and mental health
consequences that include physical injury, chronic pain, depression,
homicide, and suicide (Campbell, 2002;Devries et al., 2013).
Although men can become victims of IPV, most victims are female,
in part due to patriarchal social systems, traditional gender norms,
and gender inequality (Dasgupta, 2007;WHO, 2012).
In the United States, foreign-born immigrant women are at an
especially higher risk for IPV-related homicide than are U.S.-born
women (Sabri et al., 2021), suggesting an elevated risk of severe
partner violence. Asian immigrants who experience IPV are less
likely to seek help from IPV service agencies, women’s shelters,
hospitals, or law enforcement (Lee & Hadeed, 2009). Yet research
on Asian immigrant women in the United States is limited, with
even less research on IPV experienced by Chinese immigrant
women. Even though Chinese immigrants represent the second
largest foreign-born population in the United States (2.9 million;
Budiman, 2020), the few studies on IPV among immigrants in
the United States have considered Asian immigrants as a single
minority. Chinese immigrants do share some cultural background
with other Asian groups, but they have obviously unique back-
ground characteristics, including their language, history, culture,
and values. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore Chinese
immigrant women’s experiences of IPV and the impact of traditional
Chinese culture and values and immigration-related factors on those
women’s experiences.
The Prevalence and Mental Health Consequences of
IPV Among Chinese Women
The reported prevalence of IPV in Chinese immigrant women is
comparable to that in the U.S. general population and among women
in China. Data from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual
Violence Survey show that more than one in three U.S. women
report that they have experienced physical and sexual violence and/
or stalking by an intimate partner (Smith et al., 2017). A study in
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This article was published Online First November 8, 2021.
Yang Li https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8901-3454
Fanghong Dong https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6696-5196
No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.
The authors would like to thank all of the women who participated in
the study.
This research is funded by the University of Missouri Postdoctoral
Research Grant and Professional Development Funds.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Yang Li, School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, 1710
Red River St, #3.446, Austin, TX 78712, United States. Email: yang.li@
nursing.utexas.edu
Psychology of Violence
© 2021 American Psychological Association 2022, Vol. 12, No. 2, 74–83
ISSN: 2152-0828 https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000400
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