Background

Introduction
This CALD Family Violence Resource is informed by New Zealand and international literature. The goal is to inform health professionals about cultural differences in the ways that family violence presents and interventions “that work with culture, not against it or without it” (Yick & Oomen-Early, 2009 p. 135).

Violence and abuse cause significant and cumulative health harm. The longer violence and abuse continues, the worse the harm to child and adult victims (Fanslow, Chalmers & Langley, 1991; Feletti & Anda, 2009; Feletti et al., 1998). Victims of violence use services at approximately three times the rate of people who are not victimised (Fanslow & Robinson, 2004; Krug et al., 2002; Koss, Koss & Woodruff, 1991). The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study suggests that being a victim of child abuse and/or witnessing partner abuse is linked to serious health conditions in adulthood (Felitti et al., 1998). To reduce health and social harm, identification and intervention by health professionals’ of child and adult victims is critical.

Diverse cultural, linguistic and religious groups have their own social norms and values. Specific cultural and religious practices and beliefs will determine the form that family violence takes in each community. How and when migrant and refugee women decide to access formal assistance is embedded in a larger socio-cultural context including collectivist family and religious beliefs, family and extended family structures, community belonging, and access to health, social and legal services.

Pan et al. (2006) have identified six key issues in the literature on addressing family violence in CALD communities. These are (Pan et al., 2006):

1. Cultures’ definitions of family violence.
2. Cultures’ specific definitions of family harmony, gender roles and conflict resolution strategies.
3. Recognition of the client’s cultural identity and spirituality.
4. The cultural competency of health and social service providers.
5. The availability of interpreting services.
6. Cross-cultural support in health and social support services.

These issues will be discussed as we proceed through this resource.

As health professionals we need to understand the cultural context in which family violence takes place and how to intervene successfully to protect women and children.

While general guidelines are offered for family violence interventions for CALD groups in this resource, it must be remembered that Asian, South Asian, South-East Asian, Middle Eastern and African (MEA) groups are extremely diverse, and values and traditions vary across ethnicities, cultures, religions and countries. Cultural groups have their own cultural norms, values and practices, which will determine their response to family violence. Communities have different definitions of abuse, and conceptualisations of family violence vary across communities and from one country to another (Fernández, 2006; Midlarsky et al., 2006).

Family violence interventions in New Zealand, for example, screening for partner abuse, are based on Western concepts of the nuclear family, which may be dissonant with Asian, Middle Eastern and African women’s collective cultural values and expectations. Additionally, if women do not recognise a situation as abusive, they are less likely to seek help.

Health professional’s knowledge of their client’s cultural and religious backgrounds, and how this may impact on women’s responses to abuse, is critical to facilitating disclosure of partner abuse and appropriate intervention.