Intimate Partner Violence Among South Asian Women: Conceptualizing Culture, Building Resilience and Increasing Cultural Competency of Counsellors

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an issue that impacts all nationalities, ethnicities and cultures, and is continuing to gain more acknowledgement the more IPV is openly addressed. The South Asian culture is built on collectivism and patriarchy, creating oppression among women, leading to higher rates of IPV and domestic violence. Research regarding immigrant communities and cultures is lacking and therefore, prevents professionals such as therapists to obtain appropriate education around culture and there remains a lack of cultural competency. Given the lack of cultural competency, IPV is underreported among South Asian Immigrant women (Shankar et al., 2013). The purpose of this thesis is to explore the South Asian culture and its norms, while also addressing acculturation, and the social construction of Indo-Canadians. This thesis will also provide recommendations to increase the cultural competency of professionals in supporting IPV and domestic violence among South Asian women.