CCSD's Cultural Diversity Site

Responding to Partner Violence
National Network on Partner Violence Against Immigrant and Visible Minority Women
Electronic Bulletin #1 - October 2004

Welcome:

This is the first of two electronic information bulletins being developed specifically for participants of the national network which provides support to immigrant and visible minority women who are experiencing partner violence. The bulletins will highlight information on research and policy debates (nationally and internationally), identify resources available, and explore issues around cultural competency and best practices in the delivery of services to this population. We hope that this information will also be shared beyond the network, so that the bulletins can be a tool to help educate the general public about this important issue of partner violence against immigrant and visible minority women.

In this first issue, we introduce our national network, explore cultural competence as a component of service excellence, and learn about the best practices of the Sexuality Education Resource Centre in Winnipeg and a peer mentoring project in Ottawa. In addition, we present a profile of a migrant wife, highlight the unique dilemma faced by immigrant and refugee women who experience partner violence, and include a list of resources for service providers. So let's get going.

The Network:

Our national network was set up to provide a discussion forum for those who advocate on behalf of immigrant and visible minority women experiencing partner violence. Participants in this network hope to improve their own ability to respond to the unique needs of this special clientele, and help enhance the capacity of advocates in other service organizations. By sharing information about resources and best practices, we want to promote more effective and higher quality of service delivery.

The original idea for the development of this network came from a study conducted by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) with financial support from Department of Justice Canada. Major findings from the report, entitled Nowhere to Turn, indicated that immigrant and visible minority women who experienced abuse from their partners were less likely to report the abuse to the police and they were hesitant to use available support services to help them deal with the problem.

As a result, key recommendations from the study included the need to develop services and supports which were culturally appropriate to this population, and to establish more relevant and effective assessment and intervention programs for these clients. In addition, the study recommended that a network be established to allow social service and agency staff to continue to collaborate and advocate on behalf of these women. It was hoped that such a network could ultimately achieve even broader goals, such as help link different service providers and offer ways for them to share their knowledge and expertise with other frontline workers, thus enhancing greater understanding of the nature and causes of partner violence against immigrant and visible minority women.

Major activities identified for the network included the following:

1. Promote relevant and appropriate policies and practices;
2. Engage in public education, aimed at empowering women and preventing partner violence;
3. Develop an information and resource base, with easy access;
4. Develop a constituency base for political action;
5. Engage in peer education and mentoring for knowledgeable and well-skilled frontline workers;
6. Create partnerships to help co-ordinate relevant services.

Participants in this network would include:

• Frontline workers in many areas, such as crisis intervention workers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, social workers, and settlement workers;
• People working in the criminal justice system such as police, lawyers and court victim services counsellors;
• Experts in this field; and
• Advocates for victims of domestic violence.

This electronic bulletin is one effort in response to those recommendations, and its aim is to help keep members working in this area connected and informed. Network participants will have access to an electronic discussion forum which will allow them to engage in electronic discussions about best practices, efficient and effective supports, and any other issues relevant to their work with immigrant and visible minority women who experience partner violence. A directory of participants in this network is also available, but only to other members of the network. The directory includes the mission statement and a description of services provided by the different organizations, as well as the names and contact information of network participants. It also includes contact information for key stakeholders in this field. Over time, the network is expected to grow in size and become a prominent and vocal advocate on behalf of immigrant and visible minority women who experience partner violence. For information on how to join the national network, contact Ekuwa Smith by email (esmith@ccsd.ca) or phone (tel: 613-236-5868 ext. 231).

Feature Column:

Cultural competence is not just about tolerance, it is service excellence.

Cultural competence with respect to support services for immigrant and visible minority women who have experienced partner violence therefore refers to services being provided in a way which reflects the beliefs, attitudes, language and actions of these women. As such, the services need to take into account the impact of a woman's immigration status, her socio-economic status, her access to the criminal justice system, her proficiency in one of the official languages, as well as her vulnerability to racism and discrimination generally, and possible ostracism and gender bias from within her own ethnic community.

In a presentation to the National Social Work Forum held in Montreal in 2001, Gilles Rondeau stressed the need for social work to attract students from different ethnic groups to become practitioners so that the "reality of our diverse society will be reflected in the delivery of our social services." He also argued that social work teachings should ensure that all social workers adopt anti-racist and pro-multiculturalism approaches in their practices.

In the United States, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) states that incorporating cultural competency standards into practice will help social workers respond knowledgeably, sensitively and skilfully to the diverse populations who seek their help. As a result, NASW has developed standards for cultural competence in social work practice which address key areas such as ethics, values, self-awareness, cross-cultural knowledge and skills, empowerment and advocacy, workforce diversity, professional education, language diversity, and cross-cultural leadership. (For more information about NASW standards, see their website at www.naswdc.org.)

For any organization or system, staff training and professional development are critical components of cultural competency. Both formal and informal opportunities need to be provided for staff to explore and better understand their own attitudes, beliefs and values; clarify how these beliefs and attitudes impact on their work; and examine the implications of their actions on the clients and on the effectiveness of the services offered.

To cultivate cultural competency within your organization or system, there are six key elements that can serve as an excellent guide. These include:

1. Value diversity as a source of great strength for your organization.

2. Conduct a periodic cultural competency self-assessment. (An example developed by Tawara D. Goode of Georgetown University's Child Development Center is noted in the resource section of this bulletin.)

3. Develop an action plan for achieving cultural competency, with clearly defined goals and an implementation and evaluation plan.

4. Educate others within your organization or system about how to facilitate healthy interactions with people from different ethnic backgrounds and how to minimize the potential for discomfort, conflict and division.

5. Cultural knowledge needs to be institutionalized in organizations and to become an integral part of the delivery of services. Leaders in the organization or system must emphasize its importance, and cultural knowledge and awareness should be visible in the organization's policies and practices.

6. Explore service delivery models which reflect a good understanding of cultural diversity and adapt them to your organization. Your programs and services should be delivered in ways which reflect the culture and traditions of your clientele.

The 2001 Census reported the highest level yet of Canada's population who were born outside the country, and three of four new immigrants were members of visible minority groups. Almost 4 million individuals identified themselves as members of visible minority groups, accounting for 13.4% of Canada's total population. This was a substantial increase from 20 years earlier when only 1.1 million individuals, accounting for 4.7% of population, had identified themselves as members of visible minority groups.

One of the key findings from the CCSD's study, Nowhere to Turn, indicated that immigrant and visible minority women were less likely than other Canadian women to report incidents of partner violence. They were also less likely to reach out for help from existing services, and one of the major reasons for their reluctance was the lack of cultural competence in those services and systems. As a result, there is an urgent need for the development of cultural competency in the support systems and structures designed to help immigrant and visible minority women who experience partner violence.

References:

Best Practice:

Women's Action Against Violence Project (WAAV) for Immigrant and Refugee Women

The Education Project

The Women's Action Against Violence (WAAV) project, which ran from 1999 to 2003, provided an opportunity for women from different ethnic and national backgrounds to explore, through workshops, the issue of domestic violence. The project also sought to enhance the capacity of immigrant and refugee women in Winnipeg to become resources within their communities on the issue of violence against women.

The project was designed by the Immigrant Women's Counseling Services and the Sexuality Education Resource Centre in Winnipeg. A Community Advisory Group (CAG) was established to provide advice on project objectives, direction, design, and community needs and interests. In addition to the main partners, the CAG also included former training participants, representatives of ethno-cultural communities, immigrant-serving organizations, and representatives from other social services and from government.

The workshops involved 10 to 12 two-hour sessions with groups of 10 to 15 immigrant women from a variety of different ethno-cultural communities. Training sessions were offered four times, with about 50 women participating in 80% or more of the educational sessions. Primary topics of the workshops included the definition of abuse, the cycle of violence, cultural and social expectations and gender roles, sexuality, self-esteem, healthy and unhealthy relationships, community resources, and the political, judicial and social service systems. Other content was added as identified by the women and facilitators, such as information about community organizations to enable participants to provide information and referrals within their communities; intergenerational conflicts; and domestic violence and the effects of war on families.

Occasionally, the participants were able to organize workshops for other women by deciding on topics to be presented and developing outreach strategies for their communities. When funding allowed, former participants were invited to follow-up sessions to discuss any problems they had encountered in dealing with domestic violence in their communities, and to assess any additional educational needs.

The sessions were delivered by staff of SERC and IWCS, and by members of other community organizations and government departments. Workshops used a mainly participatory format to encourage cooperative learning. These consisted of presentations, followed by small and large group discussions, and case analysis to provide real-life situations.

The Evaluation

Evaluation of this project led to the development of a partnership between SERC and a number of professors from different universities – University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg and University of Regina – and included community members and former WAAV participants. Using a qualitative research approach, which included principles of participatory research, the evaluation sought insights into the perspectives and experiences of women participants, the facilitators and members of the Community Advisory Group. Six focus groups were conducted, including four with workshop participants. Two individual interviews with workshop participants were also conducted. Focus group members represented a wide variety of ethnic, religious and civic status backgrounds.

Promising Practices in Educating Immigrant Women about Domestic Violence

The evaluation also examined the impact of the training sessions. It revealed that the women who participated had gained a deeper understanding of the issues by realizing the social and public dimensions of domestic violence and its prevalence across social and cultural differences. They were also better able to act on some areas of their personal lives and intimate relationships. It found, for example, that women who had participated in the sessions were able to access resources, communicate their position on the issues to their families, and to "stand up for their rights." In the groups, the women also found new friendships, and social and emotional support.

From this project and evaluation, we've learned about a number of factors that facilitated this process of empowerment and awakening. Among these factors were the following:

• the participatory and flexible nature of the design and implementation of the training, by constantly including the concerns of the participants;
• the creation of a safe and non-judgmental environment in which women could share their own experiences and viewpoints about domestic violence;
• the involvement of immigrant facilitators with whom the women could identify and gain inspiration;
• the involvement of representatives from many organizations and government services as guest speakers. By virtue of their expertise, they assisted in imparting accurate information, particularly around legal and immigration matters;
• the use of a variety of teaching approaches including videos, case scenarios, small group discussions, and plain-language written materials;
• the provision of remuneration to offset childcare and transportation costs and provide a small honorarium, as well having a central location and offering evening sessions.

Implications

While the evaluation demonstrated the successes of this model, it also identified further needs. Among these were the need to engage the broader immigrant community around the issue of domestic violence through ESL classes, the need to directly involve men, to deal with parenting issues, involve immigrant educators, and provide ongoing support and training to past-participants. Beyond the practical implications of this evaluation for the development and delivery of educational programs, the findings also have a number of policy-related implications. For example, analysis of the repercussions of the mandatory arrest policy (i.e., zero tolerance) would be beneficial, as would further examination and research at the federal and provincial levels on immigration legislation (i.e., sponsorship), and child and family legislation.

A description of this project and some of its findings have been published in V. Agnew (ed.), Women's Health, Women's Rights: Perspectives on Global Health Issues, Toronto: Centre for Feminist Research, York University, and in C. Ateah and J. Mirawaldt (eds.), Within Our Reach: Policies, Programs and Practices to Prevent Abuse Across the Lifespan, Nova Scotia and Manitoba: Fernwood/RESOLVE.

Ottawa Reports:

The Bridging Project: A Training Program for Immigrant, Refugee and Racial Minority Women in the City of Ottawa

by Melissa Rowe, MSW, RSW, Project Coordinator, Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre

"The women have stated clearly that they don't know where to go for help because they do not speak the language, and the whole idea of asking for help is too scary. From a cultural perspective, it is shameful for a wife to seek help outside of her family." Bridging Project participant

The Bridging Project was established by the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre as part of their goal to reach out to and work with immigrant, refugee and visible minority women in the city of Ottawa. The project was to identify the availability and accessibility of services for these women, particularly services related to problems of sexual violence, and to provide them with basic training and support as peer mentors in order to bridge the gaps in their communities around issues of sexual violence.

"Unfortunately, they are far away from their families and all alone here in Canada. The struggle is made even harder because they have no one to turn to." Bridging Project participant

The project identified three major objectives:

1. To empower women and youth from immigrant, refugee and visible minority communities through training in peer mentoring, and to provide them with support on issues of violence and sexual violence against women;
2. To provide a safe and supportive environment for women from diverse cultural backgrounds to discuss issues of violence in their lives;
3. To increase awareness among immigrant, refugee and racial minority women in the Ottawa area about the existing community-based crisis intervention and support services.

To achieve these objectives, a participatory action framework was used to gain an understanding of the women's experiences in accessing services for violence and sexual violence in the Ottawa area. The framework also helped identify a community of women and peer mentors, who would later provide peer-mentoring support to other women in their communities on issues of sexual violence and other relevant concerns.

"The project utilized an excellent process of engaging women from ethno-cultural communities in the development and implementation of the project." Bridging Project participant

Community consultations and workshops were held in different cultural communities using a variety of approaches. One of the most powerful and effective tools used by facilitators for outreach and recruitment in these communities was word-of-mouth referrals. Discussions were conducted in the women's language of choice, which resulted in the very active and successful participation of over 100 women from the different communities.

"The project was extremely successful in getting women in different ethno-cultural communities to begin talking about a problem that has been considered private for so long." Bridging Project participant

Despite encountering certain challenges – such as a limited time frame for completion of the project, and a lack of readily available resources and culturally appropriate training materials – the project achieved its objectives. Concrete knowledge was obtained about the needs of refugee, immigrant and visible minority women through the community consultations and workshops. Overall, 27 community consultations were conducted, and 13 immigrant and visible minority women from 10 different ethnic communities obtained training as peer mentors. As part of one of the consultation sessions, two young women (who also received training as peer mentors) facilitated a session for youth aged 12-15. Youth involvement in the project was very important in ensuring that youth were engaged in healthy discussions around sexual violence.

A major recommendation from the project was the need to establish a multi-purpose centre, where women from different cultural and language backgrounds could access a variety of services to better meet their family needs. Such services would need to take a holistic perspective, and be provided by professionals from the immigrant and visible minority communities.

Migrant Wives in Canada: Their Lives and Experiences

by Alba Féliz-Rodriguez, MSW, RSW, Centre for Cross-Cultural Counselling and Education, Ottawa

Thousands of women from all over the world come to Canada each year to join their husbands. Many of these women have been married for several years, but have been separated from their partners because of migration. In other instances, women come to marry men they hardly know, men they may have met only briefly while the man vacationed in her home country, or men met through "international correspondence services."

There are several general categories of migrant wives, including:

• Reunification Wives
• Mail-order Wives
• Cultural/Ethnic Wives
• Holiday/Vacation Wives
• Employment-related Wives

Among the common reasons cited for marrying are the following:

for Men:

• Cultural factors
• Looking for a traditional wife
• Rescue
• Failed first or second marriage
• Difficulties relating to North American women
• Initial attraction

for Women:

• Searching for a "better life"
• The belief that North American men make better husbands than men from their own countries
• Initial attraction

How they meet:

• International correspondence services ("mail-order brides")
• Internet "pen-pal" clubs
• Informal networks of families and friends
• On a beach, in a restaurant or bar
• At work

Demographic Characteristics of Migrant Wives:

• The majority come from Asia: Philippines, Thailand, China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Korea. Some come from Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. A small proportion come from Latin America and Europe.
• The majority of women coming from Asia tend to be quite young (aged 16-26); women coming from Latin America and Russian tend to be a little older.
• Some of the women are well educated, while others have some or very little education.
• A small proportion have worked in professional fields. The majority have worked in the hospitality industry or as domestic workers in their own country or in another country.
• Many of the women have been married at least once, and many have children. Some have never married.
• A great proportion of these women are very poor. A small proportion come from middle-class backgrounds.

Demographic Characteristics of their Husbands:

• Predominantly from North America, and from various ethnic backgrounds.
• The majority are middle-aged men in their 40s or 50s, divorced once or twice, and with children from previous relationships. They are usually looking for women younger than themselves.
• A small proportion of the husbands are young, aged 30-40, never married, and usually looking for women closer to their own age.
• The men tend to be politically conservative and somewhat socially alienated.
• Many of these men are highly educated and have a high income. They report being disillusioned with North America's "liberated women" and with immigrant women who have been raised here.

Among the issues identified as causing problems in these relationships are the following:

• Financial
• Employment
• Living arrangements
• Cultural differences
• Family separation and reunification
• Isolation
• Language difficulties
• Relationships with in-laws
• Domestic violence

Conclusion: Support services are needed for these migrant wives, preferably services set up and run by immigrant women's organizations.

Media Buzz

Women face dilemma: Abuse or deportation

A caring neighbour at a Scarborough motel saved Ann Dilmohamed from kicks and punches, but the would-be Good Samaritan has also led the Trinidadian woman and her daughter into immigration limbo.

Dilmohamed, who had lived underground in Canada with her husband and children since 1987, had just been granted conditional landed immigration status, awaiting medical and background checks, when police arrived at the Kingston Road motel on April 13 to arrest her husband in connection with the assault.

While the 44-year-old woman says she feels "like a bird freed from a cage after living in an abusive relationship for 20 years," she now faces deportation – and possible separation from her 14-year-old, Canadian-born daughter – because of the arrest.

Dilmohamed's husband has been charged with assault causing bodily harm and his case is still before the courts.

Like most immigrant women, Dilmohamed is a dependant to her spouse in her immigration application. Their lives are in their husbands' hands. If the man withdraws sponsorship or is being deported for whatever reason, the wife and children have no choice but to leave the country.

"Some men use immigration as a weapon in abusive relationships, knowingly. It is a huge bargaining chip because they know their spouses would have nowhere to go but stay in the relationships," says Sudabeh Mashkuri, a lawyer at Toronto's Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, which serves survivors of domestic violence.

The plight of abused immigrant women was documented in a recent two-year study by the Canadian Council on Social Development. It found immigrant and minority women are more prone to suffer domestic abuse and less likely to report it.

Based on analysis of a 1999 Statistics Canada survey, the study found 10.5% of immigrant women have experienced emotional or financial abuse, while 4.2% cited physical or sexual abuse. Among the victims, only 10% would report the abuse to police, and 17% would seek help elsewhere, such as counselling and shelter services.

The Schlifer clinic has always had in-house legal counsel to handle domestic-abuse and custody-dispute cases. However, with more files crossing into the immigration domain, the agency hired Mashkuri five years ago to help women like Dilmohamed.

The clinic currently has 856 domestic-abuse files and Mashkuri says half the cases involve victims whose immigration status is jeopardized by their abusive spouses.

"These women are afraid to be sent back to their homelands, which are usually war-torn and poverty-stricken," notes Mashkuri. "Their lives rely on their abusive partners."

Dilmohamed married in 1984 and the couple came to Canada three years later with their two sons, all as visitors. After a failed refugee claim in the early 1990s, they moved underground in Scarborough. While Dilmohamed worked as a restaurant chef and domestic help, her husband worked on and off as a construction worker.

Through the help of a friend, the family applied to be landed immigrants on humanitarian and compassionate grounds in 1997. They were later conditionally accepted as landed immigrants because they proved to have already established themselves in the country. (Dilmohamed's two adult sons were removed from Canada in December 2002, after theft convictions.)

Despite escalating abuse from verbal to physical assaults, Dilmohamed says she did not go to the police because she had no status in Canada and would face deportation.

Her alleged attacker's drinking often led to abuse, she says.

Resources and Links:

• Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Children and Families: Cultural competency www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/publications/cultural_competency/assessment_tool/tool_index1.htm

• Cultural Diversity Institute, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 www.ucalgary.ca/cdi/

• Cultural Competency: A Self-Assessment Guide for Human Service Organizations www.ucalgary.ca/cdi/guides.htm

• Samples of "Self-Assessment Checklist" for agencies providing primary healthcare and social services:

  • gucchd.georgetown.edu/nccc/nccc11.html
    
  • gucchd.georgetown.edu/nccc/nccc7.html
    
  • www.aafp.org/fpm/20001000/58cult.html

• NASW standards of cultural competence:www.n4a.org/datoolkit/NASW%20Standards%20II.htm

• National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, 3307 M Street, NW, Suite 401, Washington, DC 20007-3935 gucchd.georgetown.edu/nccc/

Please note that the views expressed in this bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of the Canadian Council on Social Development.

CCSD's Cultural Diversity Site

Canadian Council on Social Development, 190 O'Connor Street, Suite 100, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2R3
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca