Background
Ethnic minority populations in the UK and intimate partner abuse
Ethnicity and IPV against women: Similarities and differences in the experience of British women and BME women
The Problematization of culture in IPV against BME women
Methods
Study design
Study participants
Researcher reflexivity
Data collection
Data analysis
S/N | Research ID (Pseudonyms) | Still in abusive relationship | Type of Abuse | Relationship with abusive male partner (marital status, where they met, and length of time together) | Have children | Affected by ‘No Recourse to public funds’ clause | Immigration status affected disclosure/help-seeking from Statutory services |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Aduke | No | Physical violence, controlling behaviour, financial abuse, sexual deprivation | Husband; met in Nigeria; 3 years | Yes | Yes | No |
2. | Abike | No | Emotional abuse | Husband; met in Nigeria; 5 years | Yes | Yes | No |
3. | Abeni | No | Physical violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse | Partner; met in Nigeria; 2 years | Yes | Yes | Yes, overstayera |
4. | Abeke | No | Physical violence, emotional abuse, controlling behaviour, financial abuse | Husband; met in Denmark; 8 years | Yes | No | No |
5. | Ajoke | No | Physical violence, emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse | Husband; met in Nigeria; 10 years | Yes | Yes | Yes, overstayer |
6. | Anike | No | Physical violence, financial abuse, emotional abuse | Partner; met in England; 10 years | Yes | Yes | Yes, overstayer |
7. | Agbeke | No | Physical violence | Husband; met in Nigeria; 5 years | Yes | Yes | Yes - overstayer |
8. | Apinke | Yes | Physical violence, emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse, controlling behaviour | Husband; met in Nigeria; 20 years | Yes | Yes | Yes – dependent on his visa |
9. | Akanke | Yes | Physical violence, emotional abuse | Husband; met in Nigeria; 12 years | Yes | Yes | No |
10. | Amoke | No | Physical violence, emotional abuse. Financial abuse, controlling behaviour, sexual abuse (marital rape) | Husband; met in England; 5 years | Yes | No | No |
11. | Asake | Yes | Physical violence, emotional abuse, sexual deprivation | Husband; met in England; 4 years | No | Yes | Yes - overstayer |
12. | Asabi | No | Physical violence, emotional abuse | Husband; met in Nigeria; 23 years | Yes | Yes | Yes - overstayer |
13. | Arike | Yes | Physical violence, emotional abuse, controlling behaviour | Partner; met in Nigeria; 37 years | Yes | No | No |
14. | Alake | No | Emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual deprivation | Husband; met in Nigeria; 10 years | Yes | Yes | Yes – dependent on his visa |
15. | Amope | No | Emotional abuse | Husband; met in Nigeria; 7 years | Yes | Yes | Yes - overstayer |
16. | Apeke | No | Physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, controlling behaviour | Husband; met in Nigeria; 11 years | Yes | No | No |
Results
Socialisation from country of birth (Nigerian socialisation)
I think what made me to stay for that long was because I wasn’t strong enough because of the society thing…. My strength would have been from what raised me, which is my culture. I didn’t have enough strength to say it’s all done, you know what, walk away. For me, the people I grew up with, my aunties, they endured it and their experiences were really very bad, and they are still in it, and this was what was modelled to me. So basically, what was modelled to me was what made me stay, I couldn’t file for divorce (Abike).
You know we Nigerian women, the way we were brought up, you know in your house they will tell you, in your husband’s house, this is what will happen, you don’t have to complain (Agbeke)
You know what, based on our culture of suffering and smiling, this prevents many of us from speaking up and seeking help…. And what will people say? That you are telling others about your man, such things tie us up, and it’s the cause of our problem ( Amope )
So, the first person I really opened up to was Chief [community leader], she listens to me, and she doesn’t say anything bad, she just listens and did not tell other people my story (Arike)
The first person I spoke with was a member of the church, like an elder. And she asked me to speak with the pastors. So I spoke with the pastor. I think they were the first before I ever spoke with my parents (Alake).
When the abuse became unbearable, I spoke with his elder sister first. She said, I have to endure the hardship, and that in this country, the woman does more than the man. That is, I have to do more to support the family. My ex-partner will do 30% and I will do 70% (Anike)
Immigration status
I was scared really because of our status. Our status was one of the main reasons for not speaking. I’ve been told, and my husband also told me, that listen, if you continue to go to the police when I do things to you, we are both going to be deported... (Ajoke)
…anytime we have any slight argument, [the abusive husband says] I’m moving out, I’m moving out. Even recently, he [abusive husband] was going to move out, and I had to ask people to beg, because of my financial status and my immigration issue, so I had to ask people to beg him. (Asake)
…and you know the physical violence was going on, and he was like if I threaten him with the police, he will threaten me with taking us back home. I just looked at it, number one, I am not entitled to anything, if I reported him, it will worsen the whole situation, so I just kept keeping it within me… (Apinke)
I told one of our nurse managers, and she gave me numbers that I could call, like women’s aid, social services, and children social services to tell them. I collected the number, but I didn’t do anything, I kept quiet, because I didn’t have papers1 (Asabi).
…the fact that I was in the UK as a dependent stopped me from telling anybody, I will say the white people. I know that if anything goes wrong, then I will be going back with my two children ( Alake )
Acculturation in the country of immigration
I came down here heavily accented, I couldn’t take on paid employment… (Apinke)
I went to Women’s Aid and explained my problems, told them I don’t have anywhere and my husband wants to kill me. When I explained my problems, they said to me, why can’t you call the police? I couldn’t answer the question properly because it’s not my language and as I am new in England, I don’t know how they do here (Aduke)
…he [husband] stopped contributing to rent. Before that time, he was not living in the house most of the time. When he stopped contributing to the rent, he told the landlord I should be the one paying the full rent which I couldn’t afford at the time. But it became very bad and I had to move out of the house to a one bedroom flat with my children. After a year, he filed for divorce that I had moved out of the house (Abike)
He left me and the children here with nothing and went back to Nigeria. He did not want to be here, knowing that, when he does something to me, there are people that will stand up for me, he couldn’t stand that, and that was his reason for going back (Ajoke).
Discussion
Values of familism
‘…refers to a model of social organization, based on the prevalence of the family group and its well-being placed against the interests and necessities of each one of its members. It is part of a traditional view of society that highlights loyalty, trust and cooperative attitudes within the family group…’ ([83]: pg 546).
Trust and confidentiality
Link between familism and acculturation
Developing a disclosure and help-seeking model
A case for collaborative working with community groups and faith-based organisation in IPV prevention and intervention approaches in the UK
Collaborative work with Public Health England
‘The community approach enables professionals from varied disciplines (police officers, doctors, social workers, community center directors, urban planners, attorneys, etc.) to deal with social challenges while making use of both their professional expertise and the community approach. As the awareness of the necessity of partnerships grows it becomes more and more complicated to apply it. The complexity theory provides a guideline for handling that challenge successfully’ (pg.1).