Objectives: 1) To identify the prevalence and incidence of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) against South Asian women residing in the US; 2) To identify prevalence and types of abuse-related injuries, non-partner related abuse histories, attitudes relevant to IPV, and help-seeking behaviors of participants reporting IPV.
Method: A community-based sample of South Asian women (N=160) involved in a relationship with a male partner participated in a cross-sectional study of women’s health. Participants were age 18-62 (mean age=31.6) and predominantly foreign-born (87.5%). Most were married (74.4%) with children (51.6%) and reported a family income greater than $2100/month (71.9%).
Results: Almost one-third (30.4%) of the sample reported physical IPV; 18.8% reported sexual IPV; and 15.8% reported injury resulting from IPV. Among abused participants, 29.3% reported physical abuse and 10.7% reported sexual abuse outside their current relationship. In addition, 42.1% reported witnessing emotional abuse in their parents’ relationship, and 21.1% reported witnessing physical abuse. However, only 10.3% reported receiving any counseling for abuse, and only 48.3% knew where they could get services for domestic violence. Further, 20.7% reported feeling that some women deserve abuse from their partners.
Conclusion: Despite popular conceptions of South Asians as a "model minority", domestic violence is a serious and highly prevalent concern for South Asian women in the US. Further, knowledge of available services is limited and victim-blaming is common. More culturally-tailored domestic violence services and education must be made available to this under-recognized and growing population.
Learning Objectives: 1. To describe the incidence and prevalence of intimate partner violence against South Asian women residing in the US. 2. To describe knowledge of domestic violence services and levels of service utilization among South Asian women who have experienced IPV
Keywords: Domestic Violence, Asian Americans
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.