The primary aim of this research was to develop an understanding of South Asian women's experiences of sexual violence, including child sexual abuse (CSA), in the context of service provision. Recent research indicates that their needs are neither sufficiently understood nor given adequate priority in service planning and provision of mental health services.
Since the 1970s sexual violence has been the subject of extensive psychological and social research. The main focus has been the short- and long-term distress reported by women, such as depression, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, and Post Traumatic Stress. These studies have tended to focus on the impact on the individual rather than the role of socio-cultural factors in women’s distress and the varying contexts of their lives. The studies have also tended to exclude women from many minority-groups who do not use services from a fear of discrimination - a fear sometimes grounded in culturally racist clinical and social work practices.
Some support groups argue that South Asian women would seek help if they were able to disclose their experiences of sexual violence with women who understand or share their cultural practises; that this may offer a context in which women can begin to talk about sexual violence. However, such services are rare, so if South Asian women seek help, they are forced to use the available generic services.
Objectives
The researchers sought to:
- develop an understanding from a social constructivist perspective of the experiences of sexual abuse against South Asian women, to inform existing psychological perspectives on sexual abuse and violence
- explore how women from various South Asian communities understand their experiences of abuse and violence, and their views of the services available
- explore how health care, clinical professionals, and service providers make sense of the experiences and needs of South Asian service users and how race, gender, and class issues inform their policies and practice
Key Findings
The interview data is still being analysed, hence the following is a summary of the initial exploratory analysis.
- Many women find it difficult to speak about their experience because it may not be seen as a primary or even major concern in their lives, especially in the context of poverty, immigration and a range of family issues.
- Taking about themselves is anathema to many of the women. They tend to talk about their subjectivities in terms of their ‘culture’ ie in the context of their families - in particular, their relationships with their husbands and mothers-in-law - and concerns about opinions in their community, and general cultural and religious values and practices.
- Identifying a particular symptom or disorder such as ‘depression’ in order for a practitioner to begin work, may give a woman ‘an illness’ as a legitimate reason for focusing on herself, but it also focuses the ‘problem’ on the woman rather than, for example, the husband or family.
- Interpreters - sometimes, family members - may become involved in the process, leading to a diagnosis based on the wishes and motivations of others rather than the women’s own interpretations of the situation.
- Women rarely disclose abuse early on in therapy, and this has implications for services where it may not be possible to provide long counselling or therapy sessions because of resource constraints.
The findings from the research will be used to inform existing policies and practices for providing services to survivors of sexual abuse and violence.
About the study
The research was carried out by Dr B Ahmed, and Ms Anamika Majumdar of the School of Psychology of the University of East London and Dr P Reavey of London South Bank University.
Further studies are being planned, one of which will study the utility of offender programmes for South Asian men, and whether existing models are appropriate for the South Asian community, where the emphasis is on the individual men rather than, say, looking at family and community contexts.
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