Intimate Partner Violence Among Vulnerable Korean Immigrant Women: Intersection of Immigration and Gender Norms

Background: Although national surveys reported that Asian immigrant women experienced the lowest IPV, compared to other racial/ethnic groups (NIPVS, 2015; OVC, 2018), individual studies reported that, due to patriarchal gender norms and language barriers, Asian immigrant IPV victims were less likely to report their victimization (Cho, 2012; Lopez et al., 2017). Thus, little is still known about the extent, context, and nature of IPV among Asian immigrant women, especially for Korean immigrant women. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to identify types and incidence rates of IPV among vulnerable Korean immigrant women; and 2) to examine the intersectional effects of gender norms, socioeconomic status, and immigration stress on IPV among those Korean immigrant women.

Method: This study utilized convenience and purposive sampling methods to recruit vulnerable immigrant Korean women who have received or were currently receiving government aids or social services, due to their financial difficulties and/or mental health issues, from non-government organizations that serve Korean immigrants living in ethnically diverse urban area. A total of 83 Korean immigrant women participated in the study in 2017. IPV developed by WHO multi-country study (22-items, α = 0.90) was examined with having a college degree, income, length of living in the US, English proficiency, and gender norms (3-items, α = 0.68). Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 45.3 years old (sd = 8.8) with an average of 15.7 years living in the US (sd = 9.8). About 70% attained some college and above level of education from their country of origin (i.e., Korea), and 65% reported receiving a government assistance. Up to 56.6% reported experiencing at least one of 22 IPV indicators. The most common type of IPV was psychological violence (39.5%), followed by physical (28.9%) and sexual violence (19.7%). Results showed that immigration factors and gender norm significantly increased R2 change (R2 change = 0.26, p < 0.001, Adjusted R2 = 0.32; & R2 change = 0.08, p < 0.01, Adjusted R2 = 0.39, respectively). College degree, more life stressors, lengthy of living in the US, and egalitarian gender norms were found to be risk factors of IPV while higher income and English proficiency were found to be protective factors against IPV.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that vulnerable Korean immigrant women experience similar rates of IPV with those reported in other ethnic groups (36.4% reported in NIPVS, 2015). Findings also revealed significant intersectional effects of socioeconomic status, immigration, and gender norms on IPV experience. Many Korean immigrant families try to hold traditional cultural values and norms, which may negatively affect the couple dynamics. Traditional Korean culture emphasizes a hierarchical relationship between a wife and a husband, and wife’s conformity to husband to maintain family harmony although many attained a higher educational level. Not only providing victim services, but also community outreach and education on egalitarian gender norms will help mitigate stress from traditional gender norms.