A Preliminary Evaluation of Domestic Violence Awareness-Raising Campaigns in Asian Faith-Based Communities

Background

In the United States, domestic violence has been silenced in Asian communities. Compared to one in three U.S.-born women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), research indicates that IPV rates among Asian immigrant women range between 15% to 71% (Gonçalves & Matos, 2016; Yoshihama et al., 2020). However, domestic violence against Asian can be more prevalent than reported because of low IPV rates in Asian communities and the model minority myth (Chou & Feagin, 2015; Kapur et al., 2017). More research is needed to address domestic violence issues among Asian communities (Kim & Schmuhl, 2020).

Many Asian immigrants highly participate in Christian churches after they migrate to the U.S. as 42% of Asian Americans are Christians, the largest religious group (Pew Research Center, 2012). Asian families benefit from Christian churches as educational, psychological, and spiritual resources (Son et al., 2018). As abused Asian immigrant women may not seek help from formal systems due to cultural and immigration barriers (Lee, 2013), immigrant faith communities can be powerful allies in responding effectively to domestic violence (Choi et al., 2016; Le Roux, 2015; Truong et al., 2022). Domestic violence training has been evidenced to be effective for faith leaders (Choi et al., 2019; Jones & Fowler, 2009); however, limited research has evaluated domestic violence programs for the Asian congregation members. This study presents an evaluation of a pilot project of domestic violence awareness-raising that links violence against Asian women and Asian faith-based communities.

Methods

This research evaluates a pilot project to engage the Asian faith communities in recognizing national domestic violence awareness month (DVAM) in Northeastern area. Beginning from October, 2022, the DVAM project was initiated to raise awareness of violence against Asians and Asian Americans. The DVAM project aims to deliver the message that Asian faith members have roles to play in ending violence and includes three main activities: 1) watching a video presentation on DVAM through an anti-racist lens; 2) wearing purple or orange and participating in group picture campaigns; 3) attending a presentation by service providers in local Asian domestic violence shelter on appropriate response in Asian faith groups. This study adopts posttest-only design to assess Asian congregation members’ awareness of domestic violence among Asians and Asian Americans and the outcome will be measured by adapting the 9-item Readiness to Change scale (Banyard et al., 2010). Evaluation data will be collected in March 2023 after the Asian shelter staff’s presentation. The preliminary results will be presented in May and be used to guide further bystander programs among Asian faith communities.

Implications

This anti-racist advocacy through the 2022 DVAM project is the first step to facilitate collaboration among social work education, domestic violence service providers and faith-based groups. Asian faith members can take on the responsibility and the challenge to end domestic violence against Asian and Asian Americans, particularly Asian immigrant women. The model can be expanded to the national levels and be applied to mobilize faith groups beyond races.