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Breaking the silence: exploring the sociocultural context of domestic violence for Chinese migrant women in Australia
Abstract
Research examining the specificity of domestic violence (DV) for culturally and linguistically diverse women has grown considerably in Australia over the past several years, however, few studies have focused on the experiences of East Asian migrant victim-survivors of DV. This article reports on findings from an in-depth qualitative study and explores the perceptions of and responses to DV for Chinese migrant women from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The article shows that sociocultural and patriarchal values had an enduring impact on women’s experiences of and decision-making for DV. It also shows how cultural norms and practices connected to face (面子), family harmony (家庭和睦), family hierarchy (等級家庭制) and filial piety (孝) can be exploited by perpetrators and used against victim-survivors in the enactment of DV and coercive control. Findings highlight the importance of attending to the cultural specificity of DV for migrant women with a shared ethnicity with policy and practice implications for the provision of support from both mainstream and multicultural services.
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While understanding the diversity of women's lived experiences is a key focus area in the international feminist literature on family violence, research with migrant women in Australia remains limited. This article seeks to contribute to the growing body of intersectional feminist scholarship that examines how immigration or “migration status” impacts the dynamics of migrant women's experiences of family violence. The article examines precarity in relation to migrant women's lives in Australia and focuses on the ways that their specific circumstances contribute to and are compounded by the experience of family violence. It also considers how precarity functions as a structural condition that has implications in terms of various forms or patterns of inequality that can heighten women's vulnerability to violence and undermine their efforts to ensure their safety and survival.
Nearly eleven million Chinese migrants live outside of China. While many of these faces of China’s globalization headed for the popular Western destinations of the United States, Australia and Canada, others have been lured by the booming Asian economies. Compared with pre-1949 Chinese migrants, most are wealthier, motivated by a variety of concerns beyond economic survival and loyal to the communist regime. The reception of new Chinese migrants, however, has been less than warm in some places. In Singapore, tensions between Singaporean-Chinese and new Chinese arrivals present a puzzle: why are there tensions between ethnic Chinese settlers and new Chinese arrivals despite similarities in phenotype, ancestry and customs? Drawing on rich empirical data from ethnography and digital ethnography, Contesting Chineseness investigates this puzzle and details how ethnic Chinese subjects negotiate their identities in an age of contemporary Chinese migration and China’s ascent.
The mass adoption of digital technology in people’s lives has changed and continues to change the fabric of society, including the age-old social issue of domestic violence (DV). Emerging research on technology-facilitated abuse within the context of DV and technology-based DV interventions shows the potential of digital technology in supporting and empowering victim-survivors. On the other hand, perpetrators of DV increasingly exploit the affordances of digital technology to control, harass, hack and track their intimate (ex-)partners. In this thesis, I refer to this form of domestic abuse as technology-facilitated domestic abuse (TFDA). Women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds have been identified as more vulnerable to TFDA. However, little scholarship on TFDA has focused on CALD women’s lived experiences, much less on their engagement with digital technology for seeking safety, advice and support.
Drawing on a two-staged qualitative research study with 13 frontline DV practitioners and nine Chinese women DV victim-survivors, this thesis study addresses this research gap by considering the intersection of digital technology, DV and CALD women, primarily through a specific case study of immigrant Chinese women living in Melbourne, Victoria. This thesis further explores the nuanced ways in which these Chinese women victim-survivors’ social location played out in their digital engagement pre- and post-DV relationships.
My research confirms that textual, verbal and visual digital interpersonal communication has enabled DV to manifest from offline to online, potentially all-encompassing within victim-survivors’ private and public domains. Although CALD DV victim-survivors share similar experiences of TFDA with other Australian women victim-survivors, CALD women’s social location intersect with their lived experiences to further marginalise them and impact on their response to and recovery from DV. The majority of the Chinese women DV victim-survivors in my study did not articulate abuses facilitated by technology as part of their DV experiences. The women also relied on themselves or their friends and family to deal with their DV situations. The reluctance to seek help from support services and the lack of awareness of TFDA of this group of women are likely to have stemmed from their perceptions that DV is a private matter and that non-physical violence is less severe.
Regardless of the type of domestic abuse experienced by this group of Chinese women, digital technologies played an essential role in assisting them to cope and recover, with smartphones the most used technology-based response. Many would extend their everyday smartphone use to rely on location technology for safety, cameras for recording evidence or online communities for advice and support. Although, in general, the women’s digital communication engagement was primarily around interpersonal communication, entertainment or work-related, such mundane engagement brought a sense of life enhancement, social support and safety during their recovery journey.
The women in my study were not aware of DV apps and many had not sought online support from DV service providers. Although practitioners and women alike were appreciative of the innovation of technology-based response, they all expressed the value of face-to-face support when it concerns CALD women. There is a strong need to bridge the knowledge gap on TFDA and technology-based response among CALD communities.
Additional research is greatly needed to explore the full potential of utilising digital technologies to assist support services in their efforts to ameliorate DV. Future efforts for DV prevention and intervention, including the deployment of technology-based response, need to consider CALD women’s socio-cultural backgrounds and migration experiences, and their engagement with digital technologies. Collaboration with members from CALD communities including women with lived experiences should be essential and not an add-on.
This case study of one gender and one ethnic minority group contributes to the knowledge of TFDA and its impact on a marginalised and understudied group of CALD women DV victim-survivors. Although limited in its generalisability, this first study of TFDA and Chinese immigrant women lays some of the groundwork for future research into the lived experiences of migrant and refugee women.
This paper explores the implications of domestic and family violence occurring across borders, specifically the utilisation of border crossings to exert control and enact violence. While gendered violence can and does occur in border-crossing journeys, this paper focuses more specifically on how domestic and family violence extends across national borders and how violence (or the threat of violence and deportation) can manifest across multiple countries when women are temporary visa holders. This paper illuminates the way in which migration systems play a significant role in temporary migrant experiences of domestic and family violence. Drawing on a study of 300 temporary migrants and their experiences of domestic and family violence, I argue that perpetrators effectively weaponise the migration system to threaten, coerce and control women in different ways, most often with impunity. I also argue that we cannot focus on perpetrators and the individual alone—that we need to build on the border criminology scholarship that highlights the need to focus on systemic harm in the context of domestic and family violence and identify how the migration regime contributes to gendered violence.
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.
Objective:
Immigrant women are vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV), and differences in immigration history, language, and culture impact their trauma responses. Although Chinese are the largest Asian immigrant subgroup in the U.S., little IPV research has specifically focused on this population. Therefore, we aimed to gain a better understanding of help-seeking experiences of Chinese immigrant women who had IPV.
Method:
Twenty female Chinese immigrant survivors of recent IPV completed a Mandarin-language qualitative phone interview about their IPV experiences, help-seeking behaviors, and barriers to services. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analyses.
Results:
Women in our sample relied on family, friends, and self-help strategies to cope with IPV. They experienced feelings of shame, stigma, and "losing face," and had little social support. They also faced significant sociocultural and immigration-specific problems with formal services (e.g., culturally incongruent therapists, language, financial and transportation barriers, concerns about partner's reputation and legal status), lacked knowledge about available services, and rarely engaged with them.
Conclusions:
Abused Chinese immigrant women may be exceptionally isolated, and culturally specific barriers may substantially impact both their understanding of their IPV experiences and their use of services. Practitioners need training and support to engage survivors in culturally competent ways. While safety planning and other formal IPV services are critical to safety and trauma recovery, these survivors underutilize them, and community outreach is needed to U.S. Chinese communities to raise awareness regarding available IPV resources and services. Finally, research is needed to develop and test culturally competent, evidence-based interventions for this isolated and vulnerable population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global health challenge leading to various detrimental health outcomes. Chinese women are a vulnerable population often overlooked in IPV research. Guided by the social–ecological model, this systematic review aims to synthesize literature on the risk and protective factors for IPV among Chinese women. A comprehensive search was conducted in nine major English and Chinese databases for articles with data collected since 2006 on adult Chinese women, leading to 29 papers in the final analysis. Risk and protective factors associated with IPV identified in this review include factors at the individual level such as demographics (e.g., a younger age, unplanned pregnancy, abortion, having children, and migration), socioeconomic status (e.g., income and partners’ education level), attitudinal factors (e.g., attitudes justifying IPV and traditional beliefs about gender roles), behavioral factors (e.g., alcohol use of women, partners’ alcohol use and frequency, and partners’ high frequency of gambling), adverse childhood experiences (e.g., witnessed violence in childhood), and other personal characteristics (e.g., chronic illness and good health status). Factors at the relationship level include conflicts, power in intimate relationships, and social capital (e.g., the size of social networks, network participation of women and their partners, and social control). Community-level factors related to geographic locations were also explored while no factors were identified at the societal level. None of the included studies examined the intersections of factors within the same level or across different levels. Recommendations for future research, practice, and policy are also discussed.
The rapid advancement of technology poses many social challenges including the emerging issue of Technology-Facilitated abuse (TFA) and violence. In Australia, women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are found to be more vulnerable to domestic violence (DV) and abuse, including TFA. This chapter presents a snapshot of CALD women's Technology-Facilitated domestic abuse (TFDA) experiences in Melbourne through the eyes of a small group of DV practitioners. Findings show CALD women experience TFA similar to that of the mainstream, with tracking and monitoring through the use of smartphone and social media most common. Their migration and financial status, and language and digital literacy can increase their vulnerability to TFDA, making their experience more complicated. Appropriate digital services and resources together with face-to-face support services can be a way forward. Further research should focus on better understanding CALD women's perceptions of and responses to TFDA and explore ways to improve engagement with and use of community media channels/platforms.
Digital technologies are increasingly being used as tools for the perpetration of domestic violence. Little empirical research to date has explored the nature and impacts of technology-facilitated domestic violence (TFDV), and even less attention has been paid to the experiences of immigrant and refugee women. This article examines the nature and impacts of TFDV as experienced by immigrant and refugee women. Drawing on interviews with 29 victim-survivors and 20 stakeholders, we argue that although immigrant and refugee women may experience TFDV in similar ways to non-immigrant and refugee women, they face unique challenges, such as language barriers, cultural bias from support services, lack of financial resources, lack of trust in state institutions, and additional challenges with justice and migration systems. Immigrant and refugee women also face multiple structural layers of oppression and social inequality. Accordingly, we argue that a multifaceted approach is required to address TFDV that includes culturally sensitive and specific law reform, education, and training.
Domestic violence against women is a critical social problem due to its long-lasting harmful effects on women’s health and wellbeing. Previous studies have examined the individual and household-level determinants of domestic violence, yet there remains limited research on the effects of community-level factors, especially in rural China. To address this research gap, this study investigated the relationship between cultural and institutional factors and the risk of domestic violence against women in this context. Drawing data from the nationally representative China Women Social Status Survey (CWSS), multilevel modelling was used to identify the significant contextual factors and their interaction effects on domestic violence. Both cultural and institutional factors in a community are associated with the risk of domestic violence against women. Moreover, institutional measures are significantly related to the risk of domestic violence where patriarchal cultural norms are dominant. Findings revealed the importance of changing the patriarchal norms and promoting gender equality in combatting domestic violence in rural China.
Aims
To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of intimate partner violence among Chinese immigrant women residing in the USA.
Design
A cross‐sectional study using the online survey approach.
Methods
A total of 475 Chinese immigrant women were recruited online between April–June 2019. We measured past year intimate partner violence, sociodemographic, relationship‐related and immigration‐related factors, religion, social support, acculturation, adverse childhood experiences, and gender role beliefs.
Results
Twenty‐one percent of Chinese immigrant women experienced past year intimate partner violence. Younger age, cohabiting relationship, lower levels of relationship satisfaction and social support, older age at arrival, longer length of stay, religious belief, and adverse childhood experiences were associated with the occurrence of intimate partner violence.
Conclusion
Chinese immigrant women experience higher rates of intimate partner violence compared with other populations of women. Future research is still needed to elucidate abused Chinese immigrant women's violence experiences, help‐seeking behaviours, availability of resources and needs for services to tailor prevention and intervention programs culturally.
Impact
The findings added to our understanding of intimate partner violence among this largest Asian immigrant group. Modifiable risk factors such as social support should be targeted in future preventions and interventions for abused Chinese immigrant women residing in the USA.
Objective
To help address a long-standing gap in research and knowledge, this paper explores the issue of what service providers need to be aware of to best meet the needs of ethnic minority children and families who have come to the attention of child protection authorities and have substantiated reports of domestic violence.
Method
The results are written in narrative form, combining informed insider perspectives with a small subset of data drawn from a larger rigorous mixed methods study in Australia, that involved an exhaustive literature review, review of 120 randomly selected case files, and in-depth qualitative interviews with 29 ethnic minority families involved in the child protection system and 17 child protection caseworkers.
Results and significance
Three issues for ethnic minorities relating to the nexus of child protection and domestic violence are identified: (i) being in the child protection system tarnishes family name, which is greatly valued, leading to a preference for child maltreatment and family violence to remain private, and for compliance with Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs) and service uptake/engagement to be low, (ii) family cohesion is also highly valued, so family violence victims may sacrifice their own personal safety to protect the family unity and cultural safety of their children, and (iii) family violence interacts with cultural factors for ethnic minorities but does occur in all families; attributing it to race or culture would be racism. Several implications for practice are identified, falling under a broad umbrella approach that asks for child protection authorities and family violence agencies to work collaboratively. A call for empirically rigorous future research is also made to ensure practice is evidence-based.
There has been significant research on women’s experiences of domestic violence (DV) as well as on the women’s help-seeking behaviors when living with partner abuse. Most of the Australian literature has focused on nonimmigrant women. We know that help seeking can include informal sources such as family, friends, religious leaders, and colleagues or formal assistance from police, doctors, social workers, counselors, and DV agencies. The current study aims to contribute to the literature on help seeking by looking at what has been found concerning immigrant DV survivors and complementing that with interview material from a sample of 14 Muslim immigrant DV survivors in New South Wales. First, we look at barriers that these women may encounter in seeking help and the non-help-seeking strategies they may employ. We then see what may trigger seeking help (including before and after leaving the abusers). Next, we look at how the two types of help seeking are used to better understand the positives and negatives of these pathways. This article ends with some suggestions for developing more appropriate and targeted strategies to assist abused immigrant DV survivors and their children.
Purpose
China is the world’s largest consumer market for smartphones. Early adopters are highly influential in consumers’ decisions of new technologies. Therefore, understanding Chinese early adopters’ decision making in the smartphone market is of crucial importance to smartphone companies. There is a dearth of in-depth studies on the factors affecting consumers’ repurchase intention for smartphones. The aim of our study is thus to narrow this knowledge gap by developing a new conceptual framework explaining early adopters’ repurchase intention of smartphones.
Design/methodology/approach
Using 30 face-to-face interviews with Chinese early adopters of smartphones, we built a new theoretical framework to explain the factors that influence their repurchase intention.
Findings
Repurchase intention of smartphones is determined by aesthetic and utilitarian product-related factors (design appeal, perceived usefulness), socio-cultural factors (subjective norms, mianzi/face considerations), and brand-related factors (brand popularity, brand’s country-of-origin, perceived brand quality, and brand loyalty). The emerging framework also explores the factors affecting enhancing, maintaining and saving mianzi/face.
Originality/value
In contrast to existing technology-driven models, the study’s emerging framework shows how aesthetic, socio-cultural and brand-related factors can offer new insights in understanding repurchase intention in a rapidly developing market. As these factors are rarely examined in the information technology and/or marketing literatures, potential knowledge contribution can be highly expected.
This article depicts the dominant discourses on intimate partner violence (IPV) in newspaper reports and discusses how the myths about IPV are perpetuated in news reporting in Hong Kong. The myths about IPV consist of a set of prevalent assumptions in society that adversely affect the help-seeking behavior of survivors and impede social change. It is sometimes assumed that the victims cause the abuse and are personally responsible for solving the problem. This study reveals how news reporting in Hong Kong perpetuates the myths about IPV by engendering unequal power relations through the language and text used in newspapers. A critical discourse analysis is performed to depict the language used in the text and the embedded meanings in discourses on IPV in two popular local newspapers, Apple Daily and Ming Pao. The findings indicate that the two newspapers tend to use five major discursive frameworks in their reporting on IPV, namely, (a) gender symmetry, (b) stereotyping the abuser, (c) labeling the abused, (d) blaming the victim, and (e) ignoring women’s rights. The study reveals evidence of the systematic stereotyping of IPV abusers and blaming of survivors in newspaper reporting. These powerful discourses may perpetuate the myths about IPV and marginalize IPV survivors in society.
Background:
One in three women around the world are or have been subjected to violence. This includes in Australia, where violence against women is an urgent public health and human rights issue. Immigrant and refugee women who have resettled in Australia are known to face barriers accessing services aimed at preventing and responding to family violence. However there is little evidence about the contexts, nature and dynamics of violence against immigrant and refugee women to inform appropriate responses to enhance their safety and well-being. The ASPIRE project will address this gap by identifying opportunities for the development of responsive local and community-based interventions for family violence against immigrant and refugee women, contributing to the currently limited Australian research in this area.
Methods/design:
This participatory research project will work with communities in eight geographic locations (two inner-city, three outer-suburban, and three regional) across two states (Victoria and Tasmania), to generate evidence about immigrant and refugee women's experiences in a range of settings. The project will engage stakeholders and communities through extensive consultation prior to data collection and by facilitating community members' participation in generating and analysing data. A mix of qualitative methods will be used to generate rich data about the family, cultural and place-based contexts that shape the prevalence and dynamics of violence against immigrant and refugee women; women's prevention and help-seeking efforts; and community attitudes about and responses to violence across a range of cultural groups. Methods include in-depth interviews with women who have experienced family violence, key informant interviews with local community service providers, focus group discussions with men and women from predominant cultural groups that have migrated to areas covered by the research sites, and Photovoice with community leaders. Bilingual health educators will contribute to development of the research approach, the collection and analysis of data, and the dissemination of findings.
Discussion:
Findings from this two-year study will be disseminated to communities, service providers and policy-makers, providing evidence to inform culturally-appropriate prevention and support interventions, and building local communities' awareness and capacity to respond to violence against immigrant and refugee women.
The sociological literature has constructed a systematic typology of ‘modes’ and ‘means’ of strategic ethnic boundary making/unmaking. Through exploring different strategies, scholars illustrate the processes and contexts of boundary expansion or contraction. Other scholars also distinguish ethnic elements and ‘moral' values attached to certain ethnicities but not to others. This paper acknowledges dynamic boundary making/unmaking and moral aspects of ethnicity, while exploring the different degrees to which national and pan-national identity nest within each other among ethnic Chinese groups, as well as how ethnic boundary becomes a field where people ‘play' in their everyday interactions. Based on participant observations and in-depth interviews from two pan-Chinese worksites in Australia, the paper argues that different interpretations of ethnic identity as well as how different identities (national and pan-national) are nested give people room to ‘play' at the ethnic boundary and result in different outcomes. This paper also shows that people can cross the ethnic boundary (between Taiwanese/Hong Kongese and PRC-Chinese) without expanding/contracting the existing categories or ‘repositioning/transvaluing' their ethnic statuses.
Spouse abuse is an ignored, invisible, but significant problem in the Chinese community. This paper describes the experience of Chinese battered women in North America and provides suggestions for culturally sensitive and competent interventions for them. The discussion is based on an extensive review of the literature regarding Chinese battered women. In understanding the experience of Chinese battered women and their strategic responses to the abuse, helping professionals are urged to consider cultural, contextual, as well as individual factors including family dynamics. A three-tier model of intervention for treatment of spouse abuse in the Chinese community is proposed that targets the individual battered women, the family system, and the larger community.
Despite advances in knowledge and understanding about the impacts of domestic violence on women's lives, global research on violence against women shows there is a need for research that not only places women centre stage in research praxis, but also that involves them more collaboratively in genuine dialogue about their experiences, including their agentic stances. This is especially the case for marginalised and socially excluded women victims of domestic violence, such as those who are not known or do not present to services and who survive abusive relationships alone or with little outside support. Evidence from two studies reported here—secondary analysis of women with severe and enduring mental health problems and a collaborative narrative project with unsupported women victims of domestic violence— suggest that women's capacity for agency are compromised by a number of critical factors, and that these are also reflected in the tensions between micro–macro analyses and understanding of the impact of domestic violence on women. This article considers the barriers to women's agency from the women's perspective and in the context of broader, systemic dynamics, including the denial or obscuring of abuse by governments and states and the consequences of stringent fiscal retrenchment that put women at increased risk of domestic violence.
In this article, the authors assess the still limited literature on domestic violence among immigrant women in major receiving countries so as to begin delineating a framework to explain how immigrant-specific factors exacerbate the already vulnerable position—as dictated by class, gender, and race—of immigrant women in domestic violence situations. First, a review of this scholarship shows that the incidence of domestic violence is not higher than it is in the native population but rather that the experiences of immigrant women in domestic violence situations are often exacerbated by their specific position as immigrants, such as limited host-language skills, isolation from and contact with family and community, lack of access to dignified jobs, uncertain legal statuses, and experiences with authorities in their origin countries. The authors then examine the various responses at the national and local community levels to this issue in receiving countries.
Grounded in the patrilineal family system in presocialist China, this study explores the intersection between generation and gender dimensions of family patriarchy in influencing marital power relations. Data come from the life stories of 80 elderly married individuals, collected during the 2000–2001 period in the city of Beijing. Patterns of male dominance in marital relations were found to be incomplete, inconsistent, and even countervailing in the presence of generation patriarchy. Consequently, women's experience with family patriarchy was mixed over the life course. They were particularly disadvantaged as daughters-in-law, but their lives were improved as they became fully integrated into the patrilineal system through reproduction and their husband's growing reliance on their contributions to family continuity.
Woman abuse in intimate heterosexual relationships takes different shapes and forms and is a worldwide public health problem. Many journalists, activists, and researchers, however, minimize the extent of woman abuse, sharply criticize feminist empirical, theoretical, and policy work on this issue, and disseminate myths about feminism. A key objective of this paper is to challenge these myths and respond to criticisms of feminist scholarship. Another goal is to show that some feminists use quantitative methods and that feminist techniques influence some types of conventional research, such as large-scale surveys conducted in Canada and the United States.Research Highlights► Myths and controversies about feminist work on woman abuse are explored. ► Feminism is defined and variations in this school of thought are examined. ► I show that feminist methods are successfully used in some conventional studies.
Violence against women has received much attention in recent years, however, the particular problems faced by immigrant women have been less investigated. To obtain more insight into this group information was gathered from immigrant survivors, legal aid parctitioners, ethnic welfare workers, refuge staff and the police. In comparison to marital violence and its correlates among the Australian-born, there appears to be an increased scope for emotional and financial abuses to take place, greater difficulties in naming sexual violence, lesser involvement of alcohol and unemployment, and in some cases, the experience of migration and traditional cultural values play a role. The study also confirms previous indications that leaving the violent marriage may be more problematic for immigrant women. Cultural pressures to remain in the marriage are coupled with isolation and a lack of awareness about the resources available and the relevant legislation. These problems may be exacerbated for brides in arranged marriages and Asian women sponsored by non-Asian men. The paper includes a number of recommendations for ameliorating the plight of these specific groups plus other immigrant survivors with an emphasis upon the need for improved communication about laws, rights and services directed both to the women and the ethnic communities.
Although the Chinese and South Asian immigrant populations are largely silent on this issue, domestic violence is a fact of life in many families. In this article, we discuss cultural factors that may cause and prolong abuse in Asian immigrant homes, and review similarities and differences between the two Asian cultures in this regard. This article also addresses the psychological trauma experienced by abused Asian immigrant women and the coping strategies that they are likely to employ. Culturally sensitive intervention strategies are presented that may be appropriately used in working with Chinese and South Asian immigrant women for whom abuse is a terrifying and demeaning fact of life.
In this article, we analyse how domestic violence (DV) is understood and experienced among immigrant Ethiopian women in Melbourne, as well as the different conditions that contribute to their experiences of abuse and their responses to it. To do this, we draw on 20 interviews with participants, 7 of whom experienced intimate partner violence. Demonstrating that immigrant Ethiopian women find themselves in a social context with a set of values and understandings of family and DV that differs from their own, we argue that their responses to DV shows their selective acceptance of these values and state interventions. In exploring these themes, we contribute to the discussion about minority women's voices, values and priorities in relation to violence in the migration context. Our findings also highlight the limitations of mainstream approaches to DV, illustrating the extent to which interventions are constructed through reference to western perceptions of individuality and white feminism.
Women’s perceptions of domestic violence vary across societies and cultures and might change by moving to a new society. This study aims to explore newly arrived Afghan women’s understandings and perceptions of domestic violence and whether they perceive this as acceptable. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 newly arrived Afghan women in Australia. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed inductively to generate and organize themes. The findings showed that informants had a sound knowledge and understanding of domestic violence, and many of them identified various forms of violence. Also, informants strongly rejected that violence against women be considered normal or acceptable.
Objective
The Chinese community in the Eastern metropolitan region of Melbourne forms one of the largest migrant communities in Victoria, yet the factors that influence their social, family, and work life are not clear. An understanding of the cultural underpinnings of the family and social dynamics will enable health service providers in the region to develop culturally appropriate strategies for promoting gender equity. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to explore the impact of gender norms on the family, employment, and social life of the Chinese community.
Method
Four focus groups with men and women (older and younger) of the community were conducted in Mandarin and/or Cantonese. The data was transcribed and thematic analysis of the data was undertaken.
Results
There are differences in the gender norms between the Chinese men and women with the men focusing on the family‐oriented role of women and their own economic contribution to the family, and the women emphasising their homemaker‐provider role within the family and the impact of family responsibilities on their career advancement. The influence of Australian laws on their marital relationships was also explored.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that health service providers could play an advanced role in improving the gender parity between members of the Chinese community by developing culturally relevant programs. Future research should explore the factors that influence the drivers of gender equity among culturally diverse communities.
Over the past two decades, four-fifths of the business immigration to Australia originated from China. Australian business migrants are required to undertake a two-step migration pathway: first they demonstrate a certain level of assets and business success to qualify for temporary entry and then, through successful business activity, they qualify for permanent residency (PR). Using in-depth interview narratives and survey data, this article explores migration motives and experiences of Chinese business migrants in Melbourne, Australia and situates them within the conceptual framework of middle-class transnationalism and ‘dual embeddedness’. We found that our respondents were primarily driven by motives other than the likelihood of business success in Australia, such as the prospects of good education for their children and a cleaner environment. Gaining Australian PR emerged as the key milestone in the migration process, allowing migrants to move freely between home and host countries and live as ‘dually embedded’ transnationals.
Objectives:
This article highlights barriers in accessing public services for domestic and intimate partner violence (D/IPV) from the perspectives of immigrant women and service providers in the province of New Brunswick. Addressing these barriers can assist in building capacity among immigrant women to talk about D/IPV; increase awareness and facilitate the use of public services by immigrant women experiencing D/IPV; and improve collaboration among D/IPV service providers in different sectors.
Methods:
The study is based on social determinants of health and intersectional theoretical frameworks. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with immigrant women and public service providers, representing the province's linguistic and geographic (rural/urban) diversity. Qualitative data were coded thematically. Common and disparate themes between immigrant women and service providers were identified.
Results:
Common themes include lack of understanding, the complexity of the intersection of D/IPV and Canada's immigration framework, and issues of trust. Disparate themes include differences in cultural values, the lack of collaboration between different types of service provision, and financial issues. Recommendations are made to mitigate structural barriers and increase collaboration.
Conclusion:
Acknowledgement and better understanding of the cultural differences between service providers and immigrant survivors of D/IPV would go a long way to improve trust and break down barriers in communication. Revision of the New Brunswick Woman Abuse Protocols will highlight the perspectives of immigrant women. Long-term and increased funding for D/IPV and settlement public services will ensure that women-centered programming and professional translation services are available and improved collaboration takes place.
How are the images of abused South Asian marriage migrants shaped by domestic violence advocates? We explore the social constructions of battered Asian Indian marriage migrants in the victim advocates’ narratives. First, we find the narratives both reproduce and challenge the dominant stereotypes, utilizing some individualistic typifications while constructing these images with an understanding of the broader context of battered South Asian women’s experiences. Second, depending on the issue (e.g., economic dependence or religion), the advocates paint either a multidimensional or a one-dimensional picture of their clients. We emphasize the need for further intersectional studies of the images of abused immigrants constructed by victim advocates.
This article describes the views of Tibetan women who have experienced physical violence from male intimate partners. How they conceptualise abuse, their views on acceptable versus unacceptable hitting, and the acts besides hitting which they felt to be unacceptable or abusive, are explored. Views of survivors’ relatives/friends and men who have hit their wives are also included. Western-based domestic violence theory is shown to be incommensurate with abuse in particular socio-cultural settings. As feminist scholars emphasize listening deeply to voices of women in the global South, this article demonstrates how such listening might be undertaken when the views expressed by women diverge from feminism.
Domestic violence is a serious problem that has garnered considerable public attention in Hong Kong in the last 10 years. Domestic violence is a gender issue, as women constitute the main population of domestic violence victims. Data from the Social Welfare Department show that, among the 4,807domestic violence cases reported in 2009, 4,012 involved female victims and 795 involved male victims (Social Welfare Department 2009a). Unless we understand violence against women as a widespread and criminal type of behaviour with patriarchal roots, we may not be able to help abused women to take control of their lives.
In order to situate this monograph issue this introductory article starts with a brief, selective, and global overview of violence against women in diverse contexts, followed by the editors’ own approach on violence against women and the state. Focusing on cross-cutting themes, the introduction presents and discusses the articles included in this monograph, demonstrating the role of the state in addressing sexual violence and domestic or intimate-partner violence in neoliberal globalized societies around the world. By doing so, it problematizes state regulation of gender itself. Furthermore, it indicates some limitations but also possibilities of the forms of state involvement in addressing violence against women. The editors argue that the relationship of the state to violence against women is complicated, historical, and context contingent, with multiple implications for women’s lives, including barriers to citizenship. The interface with the transnational level is also examined, in terms of the influence of states beyond their borders, and transnational influences on state policies.
Cover Blurb: Researching Lived Experience introduces an approach to qualitative research methodology in education and related fields that is distinct from traditional approaches derived from the behavioral or natural sciences—an approach rooted in the “everyday lived experience” of human beings in educational situations. Rather than relying on abstract generalizations and theories, van Manen offers an alternative that taps the unique nature of each human situation.
The book offers detailed methodological explications and practical examples of hermeneutic-phenomenological inquiry. It shows how to orient oneself to human experience in education and how to construct a textual question which evokes a fundamental sense of wonder, and it provides a broad and systematic set of approaches for gaining experiential material that forms the basis for textual reflections.
Van Manen also discusses the part played by language in educational research, and the importance of pursuing human science research critically as a semiotic writing practice. He focuses on the methodological function of anecdotal narrative in human science research, and offers methods for structuring the research text in relation to the particular kinds of questions being studied. Finally, van Manen argues that the choice of research method is itself a pedagogic commitment and that it shows how one stands in life as an educator.
Informal observations in Australian refuge/shelter services suggest that culturally and linguistically diverse women and children are over-represented in crisis rather than early intervention services. This observation includes Vietnamese women and children escaping intimate partner violence (IPV). There is limited research on the prevalence or characteristics of IPV in Vietnam or their diaspora that sheds light on the role played by immigration, acculturation, gender roles and other factors affecting Vietnamese victims' help-seeking strategies. Such knowledge can inform innovative responses to reduce IPV among Vietnamese families. We searched electronic databases and websites using keyword terms for 'intimate partner/family violence' and 'Viet*'. The review found that Vietnamese victims and perpetrators of IPV share major similarities with those globally, especially the socio-economic determinants and sequelae of IPV. However, immigration and refugee status confer particular stressors. The review highlights the important bridging role of bilingual and bicultural staff and other emerging and promising directions.
The concept of face is clarified and distinguihed from other closely related constructs: authority, standards of behavior, personality, status, dignity, honor, and prestige. The claim to face may rest on the basis of status, whether ascribed or achieved, and on personal or nonpersonal factors; it may also vary according to the group with which a person is interacting. Basic differences are found between the processes involved in gaining versus losing face. While it is not a necessity for one to strive to gain face, losing face is a serious matter which will, in varying degrees, affect one's ability to function effectively in society. Face is lost when the individual, either through his action or that of people closely related to him, fails to meet essential requirements placed upon him by virtue of the social position he occupies. In contrast to the ideology of individualism, the question of face frequently arises beyond the realm of individual responsibility and subjective volition. Reciprocity is inherent in face behavior, wherein a mutually restrictive, even coercive, power is exerted upon each member of the social network. It is argued that face behavior is universal and that face should be utilized as a construct of central importance in the social sciences.
Is there a counterpart to John Stuart Mill or Mary Wollstonecraft in the Confucian tradition? If so, who is it? This paper aims to introduce and examine the philosophical thought of a Korean female neo-Confucian thinker named Im Yunjidang 任允摯堂 (1721-1793) who ardently pursued Confucian sagehood and upheld moral equality between men and women by creatively reinterpreting Confucian classics as well as advancing a sophisticated neo-Confucian philosophy of human nature and moral self-cultivation. I try to make sense of Yunjidang’s “Confucian feminism” by paying attention to the neo-Confucian philosophical context in late Chosŏn Korea, in which Yunjidang was deeply embedded.
A total of 262 Chinese Americans (133 males and 129 females) were randomly selected from the Los Angeles County telephone directory using Chinese surnames as the identifying marker. A structured telephone interview was administered measuring respondents' gender role beliefs, acculturation, sociodemographic factors, and their victimization experiences with physical aggression by a spouse or intimate partner. Contrary to the feminist literature on domestic violence, gender role beliefs was not related to physical intimate violence. Acculturation, however, significantly predicted severe physical violence experienced during respondents' lifetime. Whether respondents were employed also predicted lifetime minor forms physical violence by a spouse/intimate partner. Findings are discussed in a cultural context, and social work practice and research implications are also highlighted.
In this study, domestic violence (DV) in five African refugee background communities post-settlement in Perth, Australia, is investigated-specifically, the interrelationship between experiences of DV, and changed and changing gender and family roles and responsibilities. The participatory qualitative design utilized in-depth interviews with 54 members of the Somalian, Sierra Leonean, Ethiopian, Liberian and Sudanese Communities, and focus groups with 24 professionals who support them. Three key dimensions of this interrelationship are discussed: "male loss of the breadwinner role and status," "financial independence," and "mismatch between formal response and expectations." The importance of understanding experiences of DV within the context of cultural transition is highlighted here.
English
The study examines the Chinese face embedded in marital violence. Results from the analysis of male batterers showed that the stronger the faceorientation, the greater the masculine gender role stress and thus the greater the likelihood of using violence against a female partner.
French
L'étude examine la corrélation entre le concept chinois de 'sauver la facé et la violence conjugale. L'analyse révè le que plus ce concept est fortement ancréchez un agresseur, plus il met l'emphase sur le rôle masculin et, par conséquent, plus il est enclin à utiliser la violence contre une partenaire féminine.
Spanish
Se examina la faz china en relació n a la violencia marital. El anúlisis de datos sobre hombres que maltratan indica que a mayor orientació n facial ('in faceorientation'), mayor el estrés del rol masculino, y por tanto, mayor la probabilidad de violencia en contra de la mujer.
A total of 262 Chinese Americans were surveyed on the telephone about their definitions of domestic violence, attitudes toward the use of interpersonal violence, myths about domestic violence victims, and their attitudes toward the criminalization of domestic violence. Generally, Chinese Americans were more likely to define domestic violence in terms of physical and sexual aggression as opposed to psychological abuse. The majority did not approve of hitting spouses or using physical force as a means to solve problems but were ambivalent about using physical punishment to discipline children. A quarter stated that victims caused the abuse, and almost half reported that victims can easily leave an abusive relationship. Although many stated that domestic violence is a crime, many felt that family matters were private. Gender role beliefs impacted on various perceptions of domestic violence. Findings are discussed in their cultural context, and implications for practice and research are discussed for Chinese domestic violence victims.
This article compares the ways in which the classic Western philosophical division between the private and public spheres is challenged by an apparently disparate pair of thinkers—Confucius and Jane Addams. It is argued that insofar as the public and private distinction is that between the sphere of the family and that outside of the family, Confucius and Addams offer ways of rethinking that distinction. While Confucius endorses a porous relation between these realms, Addams advocates a relation that fosters reconstructive transformation of each the private and public spheres. Because Confucius and Addams both challenge the idea of a rigid separation between the private and public, while at the same time differing from one another in important ways, a comparative engagement of their views is performed, with the suggestion that Confucians might glean very much from Addams, while contemporary feminists might do the same from both she and Confucius.
The study of battered women of color marginalized by their race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and immigrant status
(defined as an intersectional approach) has created new ways of thinking of and dealing with domestic violence in immigrant
communities. This article applies the principles of an intersectional and interlocking analysis to the experiences of battered
immigrant women in the U.S. In addition, here I bring together another dimension of intersectionality: one that inter-relates
certain dynamics of domestic violence specific to immigrant communities and some of the unique ways in which immigrant communities
are dealing with domestic violence in the U.S. In these ways, we are better able to see both the concerns about displacement
and marginalization, as well as contestation and empowerment of battered immigrant women.
This study reports the intimate partner violence experiences of West African women living in Australia.
Increasing diversity in Australia's population presents new and complex challenges to nurses and other health care providers, particularly in relation to the health needs of immigrant women.
A qualitative naturalistic inquiry design was used.
A convenience sample of 21 West African immigrant women in Australia who were 18 years and over were engaged in face-to-face, in-depth interviews and asked to talk about their health experiences. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Intimate partner violence was revealed as a major theme in this analysis.
Data revealed that eighteen of the women had experienced intimate partner violence. The women's accounts of intimate partner violence were dominated by two subthemes 'suffering in silence' and 'reluctance to seek help.'
Findings revealed intimate partner violence as a significant issue for the newly migrated African women who participated in this study.
Intimate partner violence is associated with significant adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. It is important that nurses understand the cultural barriers that can impede immigrant women's ability to seek out and receive appropriate support and intervention and provide opportunities for women to disclose experiences of intimate partner violence.
The campaign of feminists to have domestic violence formally acknowledged as a key issue affecting Australian women succeeded in the early 1980s when governments began developing policy seeking to address the problem. Far from simply adopting feminist gendered understandings of domestic violence, however, the development of contemporary policy responses to this issue has been influenced by a number of competing discourses about the problem, its causes, and possible solutions. Drawing on Bacchi's policy analysis approach, the authors compare the discursive constructions of domestic violence inherent in how the issue is named, framed, and defined across contemporary Australian policy documents.