Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining but Pathways to Seeking Formal-Help and South-Asian Immigrant Women Survivors of Domestic Violence

PURPOSE: Abused South Asian immigrant women (primarily from countries including India, Pakistan & Bangladesh) in the U.S face significant barriers (i.e. lack of support systems, fear of exclusion from their own community, husbands' threats of deportation, fear of divorce, and economic dependence, among other factors) seeking formal/outside help (i.e. outside their informal network of family members and friends), such as, help from counselors, physicians, lawyers, law enforcement, and mainstream organizations as well as South Asian women’s organizations (Chatzifotiou & Dobash, 2001). Therefore, understanding the pathways utilized by abused South Asian women to seek formal help will shed more light on their help-seeking behaviors. Research questions: (1) What sociocultural factors contribute to formal help-seeking behaviors of abused South Asian immigrant women? (2) What are the pathways used by these women in seeking formal help? METHODS: A convenience sample of adult South Asian women (N=9), who were survivors of intimate partner violence and had sought some form of formal help was recruited from a South Asian women’s organization located in a large southwestern metropolitan area. Analysis: In-depth interviews were conducted, transcribed and then analyzed using a text-based manual approach to assign essence-capturing codes (Descriptive, Process, and In-Vivo). Next, the researchers looked for repetitive patterns of codes to be consolidated into categories. In the final step, a set of five themes emerged based on the outcome of coding, categorization, analysis of underlying meaning around categories, and analytical reflection (Saldana, 2013). RESULTS: Five distinct themes emerged from the participants' discussion of their formal help-seeking. (1) Severity of abuse –for most participants, the abuse escalated from verbal and emotional abuse to frequent episodes of physical abuse. As a result, life-threatening and desperate conditions led them to seek formal help. (2) Help-seeking by study participants began within the community first and then led to formal help-seeking. Family members and other acquaintances provided women information about community resources, including local shelters, rides, money, advice, emotional support, shelter, and even delivered messages from women’s family members to them. This helped the participants to further seek formal help. (3) Barriers to formal help-seeking as described by the participants included their ignorance of the criminal justice system in the new country, fear of deportation, absence of family support, as well as lack of awareness of abuse related services, and therefore hindered help-seeking. (4) Participants highlighted the importance of use of technology as it significantly extended their social network and thus empowering them to seek formal help. Participant used various modes, including a cordless phone, cell phone, desktop, laptop, Web/internet, emails, and Skype. (5) Women in the study shared their dreams of coming to America and enjoy the bliss of married life in a new country with their partner. They therefore tried to minimize their experiences of abuse by trying to make their marriage work in the hopes of a better future. IMPLICATIONS: Study results might help to explain ways to encourage help-seeking among this group, especially formal help-seeking and therefore improve access to interventions available in the community.