Ethiopian communities

A study of Ethiopian women in Seattle showed that if victims of partner abuse called the police or spoke out about their abuse, they faced loss of support or direct intimidation from the community. For women whose only social support came from their ethnic community, disapproval was often too much to bear (Sullivan et al., 2005).

The way that communities react to women who are the victims of abuse exerts a strong influence on women’s coping and help-seeking behaviours. Behaviours, such as gossiping and making fun of victims; blame, hostility, and criticism for exposing domestic violence to those outside the family/ethnic community are powerful incentives to remain silent (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2009).