Help-seeking

Because marriage in Islam is a form of religious practice and, to a large degree defines women’s social status, its dissolution has far-reaching implications not only for family life but also for women’s social and spiritual worlds.

In Meguid’s (2006) study, when women decided to leave their abusers, it was only after having experienced severe psychological, spiritual, and/or physical abuse. Arab-Muslim women who did seek outside help were well educated and had lived in the USA for some time. These women sought help from the following people:

Arab-Muslim women’s help-seeking preferences are:

• Family member(s).
• Friends.
• The imam at the mosque. The imam can be a helpful resource for social workers dealing with abuse in Arab-Muslim families.
• An Arab-Muslim professional.
• Mainstream professional help. Participants ranked formal authority and domestic violence shelters closely as the last two help sources they might seek, which might indicate that Arab-Muslim women usually keep their problems inside the house. (Meguid, 2006).