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An Abuse, Rape, and Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE in ASIAN CULTURES

Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence

Asian and Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence

India's Embassy to the US

Unheard Voices: Domestic Violence in the Asian
American Community
Free PDF Download from
the Family Violence
Prevention Fund

Breaking the Silence: Domestic Violence in the South Asian-American Community

Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future

Asian and Eastern Domestic Violence Resources

Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Victims of Crime

Presents findings about violent crime and property crime experienced by the Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population in the United States. 2009 Report from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistice.

Asian and Eastern Culture Community Resources: LINKS

Asia Women's Resource Exchange
AASRA - Hindi shelter in San Francisco area
Center for the Pacific Asian Family - Los Angeles area
Korean Women In Need - Chicago area
Legal Issues for South Asian Women
Maitri - San Francisco area
Narika - Berkely, California area
Sakhi for South Asian Women
South Asian Women's NETwork
Southeast Asia Library Service - from UC Berkeley
United Nations Development Fund for Women: East and Southeast Asia Region

Asian and Eastern Culture Community Resources: BOOKS

Speaking the Upspeakable: Marital Violence Among South Asian Immigrants in the United States Speaking the Unspeakable: Marital Violence Among South Asian Immigrants in the United States

Over the past 20 years, much work has focused on domestic violence, yet little attention has been paid to the causes, manifestations, and resolutions to marital violence among ethnic minorities, especially recent immigrants. Margaret Abraham's Speaking the Unspeakable is the first book to focus on South Asian women's experiences of domestic violence, defined by the author as physical, sexual, verbal, mental, or economic coercion, power, or control perpetrated on a woman by her spouse or extended kin. Abraham explains how immigration issues, cultural assumptions, and unfamiliarity with the American social, legal, and economic systems, coupled with stereotyping, make these women especially vulnerable to domestic violence. Through the actual stories of South Asian women, we learn of their weaknesses and strengths and their encounters of domestic violence within the larger cultural, social, economic, and political context. We see both the individual strategies of resistance against their abusers as well as the pivotal role South Asian women's help organizations play in helping these women escape abusive relationships. Abraham also describes the central role played by South Asian activism as it emerged in the 1980s in the United States, and addresses the practices both within and outside of the South Asian community that stereotype, discriminate, and oppress South Asians in their everyday lives. Kindle edition available.

Women and Law in India: An Omnibus Comprising : Law and Gender Inequality/Enslaved Daughters/Hindu Women and Marriage Law

The common thread that unites the three books is mapping the issue of equality before law and various issues relating to women's rights, social justice, and empowerment. The new Introduction by Flavia Agnes discusses the process of legal change. The omnibus forms a comprehensive and significant study for understanding why progressive laws, once passed, continue to be implemented in such limited manner. It highlights that legistlation even in the past fifty years have not brought equality even though lip service is paid to it by policy-makers. Sudhir Chandra studies the case of Rukhmabai wherein he reveals the inner working of the legal system during the colonial period and studies the conflicting and overlapping ideologies which underpinned it. This proves an essential reading in legal social and women's history of the period. Monmayee Basu takes the subject further. Her book is an in-depth study of the development and changes in the Hindu marriage laws are analysed to explain women's position in society. Flavia Agnes takes up the newer/contemporary struggles for reforms related to women. Her work interweaves numerous perspectives into a meaningful whole. The analysis is backed by facts and cases. She takes up the important issue of Uniform Civil Code and has exposed the communal undertones of some of the recent judicial pronouncements.

Research on Asian and Eastern Cultural Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence and Risk Factors among Korean Immigrant Women in the United States. Eunju Lee. Journal of Family Violence. New York: Apr 2007. Vol. 22, Iss. 3; p. 141 (9 pages)

Abstract: Domestic Violence is a serious problem among Korean immigrant women in the United States. However, little is known about the incidence of domestic violence as well as risk factors predicting violence experienced in intimate relationships. The purpose of this study is to describe domestic violence among Korean immigrant women, including type and frequency of violence and predictive factors of domestic violence experienced by Korean immigrant women. One hundred and thirty-six Korean women completed questionnaires developed in this study. Results indicate that domestic violence is a major family problem for Korean immigrant women. Implications are discussed in terms of the need of social services for Korean immigrant women.

Exploring Couple Attributes and Attitudes and Marital Violence in Vietnam. Nancy Luke, Sidney Ruth Schuler, Bui Thi Thanh Mai, Pham Vu Thien, Tran Hung Minh. Violence Against Women. Thousand Oaks: Jan 2007. Vol. 13, Iss. 1; p. 5

Abstract: Using a couple-centered approach, this study focuses on the relative attributes and attitudes of spouses as predictors of marital violence. Analysis of data from Vietnam showed that 37% of married women have ever been hit by their husbands. Regression results found that husbands with lower resources or status than their wives were more likely to have abused. Results also found that the association between husbands' gender attitudes and marital violence depends on the level of equity of wives' attitudes. The decline in violence among couples in which husbands expressed gender equitable attitudes was greater when wives also expressed equitable attitudes.

Beliefs of Sri Lankan Medical Students About Wife Beating Muhammad M Haj-Yahia, Piyanjali de Zoysa. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Beverly Hills: Jan 2007. Vol. 22, Iss. 1; p. 26

Abstract: The article presents the results of a study on beliefs about wife beating conducted among 476 Sri Lankan medical students. Participants fill out a self-administered questionnaire, which examines six beliefs about wife beating. Most students tend to justify wife beating, to believe women benefit from wife beating, and to believe the wife bears more responsibility than the husband for violence against her. At the same time, most participants express willingness to help battered women. However, the vast majority oppose divorce as a solution to wife beating and are against punishing violent husbands. The results also reveal that a significant amount of the variance in each of the six beliefs are best explained by the students' patriarchal approach toward women and marriage and by their exposure to violence in their families of origin. The implications of the results for future research and theory development on beliefs about wife beating are discussed.

Attitudes Towards Violence Against Women In Men of South Asian Ancestry: Are Acculturation and Gender Role Attitudes Important Factors? Surbhi Bhanot, Charlene Y. Senn. Journal of Family Violence. New York: Jan 2007. Vol. 22, Iss. 1; p. 25 (7 pages)

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward violence against women in men of South Asian ancestry. Studies conducted on other cultural groups have examined separately the influence of gender role attitudes and acculturation on violence against women. In the current study, we proposed that acculturation and attitudes towards violence against women were related through the mediation of gender role attitudes. One hundred male South Asian university students were administered questionnaires that measured their acculturation, gender role attitudes and attitudes towards wife beating. Results indicated that gender role attitudes fully mediated the relationship between acculturation and attitudes towards violence against women. This means that lower acculturation is only related to higher acceptance of wife assault because lower levels of acculturation are related to more restrictive and conservative beliefs about the roles of men and women.

Patriarchal Beliefs and Perceptions of Abuse Among South Asian Immigrant Women. Farah Ahmad, Sarah Riaz, Paula Barata, Donna E. Stewart. Violence Against Women. Thousand Oaks: Mar 2004.Vol.10, Iss. 3; pg. 262

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between South Asian immigrant women's patriarchal beliefs and their perceptions of spousal abuse. Twenty-minute telephone surveys were conducted with 47 women. The survey collected information about demographic characteristics, patriarchal beliefs, ethnic identity, and abuse status. Participants were read a vignette that depicted an abusive situation and were asked whether they felt that the woman in the vignette was a victim of spousal abuse. As hypothesized, higher agreement with patriarchal social norms predicted a decreased likelihood of identifying the woman in the vignette as a victim of spousal abuse. This finding is discussed in terms of its application to violence against women educational programs in the South Asian immigrant community.