Assessing the need for an interpreter

Health professionals may neglect migrant women and children in situations of family violence when they fail to use an interpreter. Further, when they defend inaction as “respecting cultural differences” and fail to act because they consider that they are not “qualified” to intervene.

While people may speak English at work and in the community or when greeting a health professional, these factors do not diminish the need for an interpreter. During partner abuse screening and intervention, women may talk about situations and concerns that they may only have words for in their own language, for example, referring to forms of abuse, body parts or sexual acts. Additionally, for women discussing abuse and sexual assault is highly stressful. Language competency skills decrease in stressful situations and a woman may be more fluent in her first language in a time of crisis (Hiltz & Anderson, 2002).

Use a professional interpreter. It is strongly recommended that service providers arrange for a female interpreter to be booked when non-English speaking women are being screened for partner abuse.

Providing a female interpreter may not always be possible for women from some of the smaller and/or newly arrived language groups. In these instances, and if there is a male interpreter available, the woman for whom the interpreter is needed should be asked, if possible, if she will agree to assistance being provided by a male interpreter.

Additionally, confidentiality becomes an issue in smaller communities or recently arrived groups. The woman may be reluctant to use an interpreter because she knows the interpreter and/or fears that details of the matter will be made public.

At the beginning of the interview, reassure the patient that you and the interpreter will respect her rights to confidentiality (unless there are serious safety concerns for the woman and/or her children).