Navigating the Domestic Violence Protection Law by Vietnamese Immigrant Wives in Taiwan

Abstract

This article explores the structural factors that hinder Vietnamese immigrant wives from escaping domestic violence by applying an institutional ethnography perspective. Taiwan’s Domestic Violence Prevention Law requires the government to assign professionals to help abused victims, but the law in action shows that abused Vietnamese wives must go through multiple institutions, which put different structural constraints on them, to reach the goal of escaping domestic violence. Following the structural intersectionality approach, we contend that gender, nationalism, and class structural factors intersectionally impose constraints on immigrant women seeking help from the state.

Intimate Partner Violence and Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Immigrant Women: A Qualitative Metasynthesis of Global Research

“…Respondents from other ethnic groups also noted police discrimination. In Tang and Wang’s (2014, p. 280) study, a social worker reported that the police ‘were not neutral and deliberately provided incorrect information…’ to immigrant Vietnamese victims in Taiwan.…”

Domestic Violence in Cross-Border Marriages: A Systematic Review

“…Other studies also opined that most of these cross-border wives entered these arrangements illegally, some trough trafficking, prostitution, matchmaking, or some sorts of arrangements, which soon affects their status making them vulnerable to domestic violence as a postmigration effect (Chiu & Choi, 2020;Choi & Cheung, 2017;Deniz & Özgür, 2021). RQ2 found risk factors as the characteristic of domestic violence on these women and RQ 3 (Tschirhart, Straiton et al, 2019) *** ** ** 7/Good (Tschirhart, Diaz et al, 2019) *** * ** 7/Good (Anitha, Yalamarty et al, 2018) & 4 are the effects of domestic violence on cross-border wives and coping strategies adopted by victims (Tang & Wang, 2014;Williams, 2010a;Williams & yu, 2006) (Tables 4 and 5).…”

“…Studies also described other immigration policies and restrictions on citizenship rights such as right to residency status by country, Taiwan imposed 3 years of immigration restriction, United Kingdom 1 year, China 5 years, Korea 7 years upon being granted conditional residency status (Williams & yu, 2006; Yu & Chen, 2018); dependence status where a qualitative finding revealed that men use deportation as a threat to the woman and her children to cage her and make her more vulnerable to domestic violence (Raj et al, 2019; Raj & Silverman, 2002; Tang & Wang, 2014); immigration flows restrictions (Carver, 2016); minimum available amount in a bank account to obtain a dependent status; in America, a K–1 or fiancée visa is issued with the condition that the couple marries within 90 days (US Dept. of Homeland Security, 2017); citizenship after 3 years of residence for those married to American citizens and 5 years for those married to Americans holding legal permanent residency (de Hart, 2017; Stamper Balistreri et al, 2017) and policies of probationary visa all renders women prone to domestic violence in their marital homes (Akyuz & Tursun, 2019; Anitha, 2019; Anitha et al, 2018; Kim, 2010, 2014; Kudo, 2017; Qureshi, 2016).…”

“…Researchers reported that the residential and economic dependence on these spouses made it extremely difficult for those who married older men to free themselves from domestic violence (Challborn & Harder, 2019; Chang, 2020; Chaudhuri et al, 2014; Choi & Cheung, 2017; Choi et al, 2020; de Hart, 2017; Jashari et al, 2021; Lorke, 2019; Statham, 2020; Statham et al, 2020; Williams, 2010b). As such, when these men domestically violate them, they have nowhere to run to and cannot challenge his authority as such they accept the violence as part of the bargain because they are afraid of being deported (Tang & Wang, 2014). Other studies reported that the age difference soon affects their emotional and sexual bond with time leading to conflict (Statham, 2020; Statham et al, 2020).…”

“…Also, these cross-border wives are not only marginalized in terms of their limited resources, language and cultural barriers, immigration status, unemployment, or their desire to change their status alone, but regarded as “dependent,” forced to think, act, behave like the local women, stripped of their identities, and beaten when they challenge the way they are treated (Tang & Wang, 2014). They are also threatened with deportation and denial of their children.…”