Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence Among South Asian Women Living in Southern Ontario

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects 4 in 10 women in North America in their lifetime and 13–27 % in the past year. The basis for estimates stems largely from studies involving Caucasian women. Less is known about other minority populations such as South Asian women. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of IPV in the past year among South Asian women living in Southern Ontario. We conducted a survey of South Asian women living in Southern Ontario. All adult self-identified South Asian women attending a cultural event celebrating South Asian women who could understand English or Punjabi were eligible to participate. The survey contained three IPV prevalence questions adapted from the Woman Abuse Screening Tool. A total of 188 women (45 % of potentially eligible women) participated. Nearly 1 in 5 women reported IPV within the past year (19.3 %, 95 % CI 13.9–26.1 %). In this study single women were significantly more likely to have experienced IPV in the past year compared to married women (p = 0.035). Self-identified immigrant and non-immigrant South Asian women in this sample of women living in Southern Ontario experienced violence in proportions comparable to the general population. Programs for women should ensure accessibility and support of all ethnicities given equivalent rates of violence in the community.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sprague S, et al. Prevalence of intimate partner violence across medical and surgical health care settings: a systematic review. Violence Against Women. 2014;20(1):118–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Bhandari M, et al. Musculoskeletal manifestations of physical abuse after intimate partner violence. J Trauma. 2006;61(6):1473–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Wu V, Huff H, Bhandari M. Pattern of physical injury associated with intimate partner violence in women presenting to the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2010;11(2):71–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Plichta S. The effects of woman abuse on health care utilization and health status: a literature review. Womens Health Issues. 1992;2(3):154.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Golding JM. Intimate partner violence as a risk factor for mental disorders: a meta-analysis. J Fam Violence. 1999;14(2):99–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Abbott J, et al. Domestic violence against women: Incidence and prevalence in an emergency department population. JAMA. 1995;273:1763–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Bauer HM, Rodriguez MA, Perez-Stable EJ. Prevalence and determinants of intimate partner abuse among public hospital primary care patients. J Gen Intern Med. 2000;15:811–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Cleary BS, et al. Intimate partner violence in women hospitalized on an internal medicine service: prevalence and relationship to responses to the review of systems. J Hosp Med. 2008;3:299–307.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Cox J, et al. Domestic violence. Incidence and prevalence in a northern emergency department. Can Fam Physician. 2004;50:90–7.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Hegarty KL, Bush R. Prevalence and associations of partner abuse in women attending general practice: a cross-sectional survey. Aus NZ J Pub Health. 2002;26:437–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. McCloskey LA, et al. Intimate partner violence and patient screening across medical specialties. Acad Emerg Med. 2005;12:712–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Statistics Canada. 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=0&PID=105392&PRID=0&PTYPE=105277&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2013&THEME=95&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 99-010-X2011030. Accessed on 5 December 2014.

  13. Investigators PRAISE. Prevalence of abuse and intimate partner violence surgical evaluation (PRAISE) in orthopaedic fracture clinics: a multinational prevalence study. Lancet. 2013;382(9895):866–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Extent, nature, and consequences of intimate partner violence. National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2000. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181867.pdf.

  15. Raj A, Silverman JG. Intimate partner violence against South Asian women in greater Boston. J Am Med Womens Assoc. 2002;57(2):111–4.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Thapa-Oli S, Dulal HB, Baba Y. A preliminary study of intimate partner violence among Nepali women in the United States. Violence Against Women. 2009;15(2):206–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Maker AH, deRoon-Cassini TA. Prevalence, perpetrators, and characteristics of witnessing parental violence and adult dating Violence in Latina, East Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern women. Violence Vict. 2007;22(5):632–47.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Ahmad F, Riaz S, Barata P, Stewart DE. Patriarchal beliefs and perceptions of abuse among South Asian immigrant women. Violence Against Women. 2004;10(3):262–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Brown JB, et al. Development of the woman abuse screening tool for use in family practice. Fam Med. 1996;28:422–8.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. PRAISE Investigators et al. The prevalence of intimate partner violence across orthopaedic fracture clinics in Ontario. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2011;93(2):132–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Sprague S, et al. Screening for intimate partner violence in orthopedic patients: a comparison of three screening tools. J Interpers Violence. 2012;27(5):881–98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Das AJ, Kemp SF. Between two worlds: counseling South Asian Americans. J Multicult Couns Devel. 1997;25:23–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Dasgupta SD. Charting the course: an overview of domestic violence in the south asian community in the United States. J Soc Distress Homeless. 2000;9(3):173–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Briones-Vozmediano E, La Parra D, Vives-Cases C. Barriers and facilitators to effective coverage of intimate partner violence services for immigrant women in Spain. Health Expect. 2014. doi:10.1111/hex.12283.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Kyriakakis S. Mexican immigrant women reaching out: the role of informal networks in the process of seeking help for intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women. 2014;20(9):1097–116.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Kimber M, Henriksen CA, Davidov DM, Goldstein AL, Pitre NY, Tonmyr L, Afifi TO. The association between immigrant generational status, child maltreatment history and intimate partner violence (IPV): evidence from a nationally representative survey. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2015;50(7):1135–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Slobogean GP, Sprague SA, Scott T, McKee M, Bhandari M. Management of young femoral neck fractures: Is there a consensus? Injury. 2015;46(3):435–40. doi:10.1016/j.injury.2014.11.028.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. American Medical Association. American Medical Association diagnostic and treatment guidelines on domestic violence. Arch Fam Med. 1992;1(1):39–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Canadian Orthopaedic Association. Intimate partner violence. Position statement. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.coa-aco.org/library/health-policy/intimate-partnerviolence.html.

  30. Hussain N, et al. A comparison of the types of screening tool administration methods used for the detection of intimate partner violence: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2015;16(1):60–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Patricia Hoyeck for her assistance with data entry, and Sonia Dosanjh, Fargol Mostofian, and Meha Bhatt for their assistance with data collection. The authors would also like to thank the organizers of the Sisters’ Festival for facilitating recruitment of participants at their event. We would like to thank the PRAISE Investigators for the use of a subset of data from the PRAISE study. Ms. Madden is funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Award. Dr. Bhandari is funded by a Canada Research Chair (McMaster University). The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. This study received ethical approval from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (Project #14-126).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University, 293 Wellington St N Suite 110, Hamilton, ON, L8L 8E7, Canada

    Kim Madden, Taryn Scott & Naushin Sholapur

  2. Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Mohit Bhandari

Authors
  1. Kim Madden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Taryn Scott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Naushin Sholapur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mohit Bhandari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kim Madden.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Madden, K., Scott, T., Sholapur, N. et al. Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence Among South Asian Women Living in Southern Ontario. J Immigrant Minority Health 18, 913–920 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0333-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0333-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation