The abuse of individuals by religious authority figures has generated considerable political, civic and media attention. To date, much of this focus has been on Catholic and Anglican priests, although instances in the Buddhist community have also emerged. This paper presents an analysis of the experiences of individuals (n = 6) who were victims of abuse by Imams (Muslim leaders) and/or Muslim faith teachers. Participants were interviewed and their accounts analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). This paper presents two superordinate themes that emerged from the rich data set: (i) Toxicity of silence and (ii) Barriers to the acknowledgement of abuse. Findings and implications of the research are discussed in relation to facilitating the reporting of abuse perpetrated by religious authority figures in the Muslim community. The authors argue that the difficulties for victims in reporting abuse have exacerbated the impact of the abuse, affecting their wellbeing and their relationships with their families and their faith.

Existing research on the role of faith in the aftermath of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) often fails to adequately situate the role played by religion throughout the DVA trajectory. This article draws on qualitative research conducted with 10 Muslim female survivors and 9 professionals providing support in DVA cases to investigate the nature, occurrence, and impact of DVA within Muslim religious communities. This article specifically explores the role of religion at four levels; individual psycho-social-spiritual level, the level of additional stakeholders, within the context of intersectionality, and at a macro-societal level. It is argued that religion and practice of faith plays a nuanced role at each of these levels. The research found that holistic approaches to faith resulted in faith manifesting as an empowering resource for DVA survivors. Reductionist and androcentric approaches to faith however resulted in the enabling and continuation of abuse and abusive structures. Findings indicate the need for service provision to provide tailored and culturally informed support to Muslim clients, particularly in relation to faith. The web model of DVA provides a structured framework through which this can be achieved.

No abstract

This paper brings together two qualitative studies exploring how domestic violence and abuse (DVA) manifests within UK Muslim communities. Study one was conducted with UK-based Muslim female survivors of DVA (n = 10). Study two was conducted with UK professionals working in a supportive capacity with both DVA victims/survivors and those perpetrating abuse within Muslim communities (n = 9). Through a multi-perspective interpretative phenomenological lens, the two data sets were analysed for overarching themes. These themes were subsequently used to develop a graphical representation of the findings. The resulting outcome was the web model of DVA. The model identifies the trajectories and interactions at four levels in relation to DVA in Muslim communities. It is argued that this model has increased capacity for understanding the extended nature of how DVA manifests for UK Muslim communities, with a particular emphasis on the active role of faith and additional nuances often missed by singular methodological approaches. The model is recommended for use by services as a means toward individually tailored client care. Recommendations are made in relation to inclusive and decolonial approaches within gender-related violence research relating to minority communities in the UK.