Intimate Partner Violence Among Asian Immigrant Communities

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious epidemic among Asian immigrant communities. Yet little is known about the scope, nature, and related contextual, cultural, and social factors of IPV among this population. In particular, the lack of research has been evident in examining health and mental health outcomes of IPV and service utilization, revealing notable gaps in health disparities which result in a failure to provide relevant services and law enforcement protection for battered Asian immigrant women. This article examines critically the growing body of literature on IPV among Asian immigrant populations in several areas: (a) the context of IPV: cultural, social, and individual/familial, (b) prevalence of IPV, (c) physical health and increased risk for sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS, (d) mental health consequences and substance use, (e) social support and help-seeking behaviors, and (f) barriers to service utilization. Future directions for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

Muslim immigrant men's and women's attitudes towards intimate partner violence

“…When a female fails to meet societal expectations or to perform her duties, violence is reckoned as a valid alternative to educate her. Many states in the Muslim world adopt laws and regulations enforcing patriarchal values that give men the responsibility to decide for their female family members while cultural attitudes regarding the social acceptance of violence are widespread (Lee & Hadeed, 2009) and may also be legitimized by a literal interpretation of the Qur’an. This results in different degrees of acceptance of violent behaviors and their normalization in social and intimate relationships: violence may be considered a normative, not deviant, behavior to discipline dependent family members (Ibrahim & Abdalla, 2010).…”

“…More specifically, immigrant couples coming from majority-Muslim countries show higher IPV rates if compared to their non-immigrant counterparts: for example, Moroccan immigrant women in Spain (Colorado-Yohar et al, 2012), Iraqi (Barkho, Fakhouri, & Arnetz, 2011), as well as Pakistani and South-Asian (Adam & Schewe, 2007; Lee & Hadeed, 2009) women immigrated to the U.S. report being exposed to abusive behaviors to a greater extend if compared to the native population and even to other non-immigrant Muslim women.…”

Correlates of Domestic Violence Victimization Among North Korean Refugee Women in South Korea

“…Particularly, a review of DV among Asian immigrant communities indicated that patriarchal beliefs were consistently associated with increased DV (Y. S. Lee & Hadeed, 2009). However, other studies found that immigrant women's traditional gender role beliefs were associated with less DV (Firestone, Harris, & Vega, 2003), because DV can be intensified due to changes in gender roles and power dynamics after resettlement in a host country (Yick, 2001).…”

Stereotypes of Intimate Partner Violence: Do Sex and Sexual Orientation Matter?

“…These differences are related to both sexes and may suggest that the patriarchal model should be seen as still prevalent. Patriarchal power is present through all the social organizations and it influences the way each person thinks about him/herself and takes a position according to that sex and gender system (Bui & Morash 2008;Hunnicut, 2009;Lee & Hadeed, 2009;Lindhorst & Tajima, 2008); the power inequalities and established unbalance by which men tend to dominate women. Moreover, even when within a same-sex couple this is expected to be more "equal" in context than in the heterosexual couples, men and women appeared to believe that GM are more physical violent than LW.…”