(Un)heard Voices: Domestic Violence in the Asian American Community

• NCJ Number: 206918
• Author(s): Sujata Warrier Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 33 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-MU-VX-K019
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women
• Sale Source: Family Violence Prevention Fund
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This federally supported report presents the findings from two focus groups' discussions on issues confronting battered Asian-American women, as well as effective strategies in responding to domestic violence.

Abstract

For almost three decades, Asian-American women have been involved in the battered women’s movement. Throughout the Nation, there are programs run by Asian-Americans to assist women and their children to live free from violence. With the expansion of the domestic violence movement, a need was identified to better understand the attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence, as well as the strategies used by the varied Asian-American communities. Focus groups were organized by the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), the Asian Women’s Center (AWS), and Manavi and supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Violence Against Women Office to examine common cultural attitudes and beliefs on domestic violence among the Asian immigrant groups. Information was compiled and the unique and distinctive cultural differences between the various groups were analyzed. Two separate focus groups were conducted with the first group comprised of survivors of domestic violence, Asian domestic violence advocates, Asian community leaders, academics, Asian members of institutions, and others. The second focus group consisted of Asian women in same-gender relationships who have experienced domestic violence, Asian domestic violence advocates, Asian community leaders active in the gay and lesbian civil rights movement, academics, Asian members of institutions, and others. An 11-question questionnaire was created to obtain the cultural dimensions of the problem. The themes to the questions included: the occurrence and causes of domestic violence, victims and perpetrators, feasible options for victims, the kinds of services needed and the barriers facing victims, and issues around community response. Recommendations from the focus groups to improve services to battered Asian women are presented and discussed. Appendix