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Research Article
Perceptions About and Responses to Intimate Partner Violence in the Sinhalese Immigrant Community in Toronto
Sepali Guruge*
Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Corresponding Author:
- Dr. Sepali Guruge
Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tel: 416-979-5000 Ext. 4964
Fax: 416-979-5332
E-mail: [email protected]
Received date: March 17, 2014; Accepted date: July 16, 2014,; Published date: July 23, 2014
Citation: Guruge S (2014) Perceptions About and Responses to Intimate Partner Violence in the Sinhalese Immigrant Community in Toronto. Arts Social Sci J S:S1-006. doi:10.4172/2151-6200.S1-006
Copyright: © 2014 Guruge S. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Intimate partner violence is a serious human rights issue and a critical health problem for women worldwide. Many studies have advanced our knowledge about this issue, but few have focused on immigrant communities in Canada. This paper presents the findings of a recently completed qualitative interpretive descriptive study involving seven Sinhalese women and two service providers in Toronto, Canada. An intersectionality approach was used to explore their views about intimate partner violence in the Sinhalese community. Participants acknowledged various forms of intimate partner violence within their community and identified patriarchal expectations, post-migration changes in socio-economic status, and relationship problems as contributing factors. Participants noted that most women remained with their abusive husband as a result of various micro-level (e.g., children’s future), meso-level (e.g., community pressure), and macro-level factors (e.g., limitations in Canadian health, social, and settlement services). A complex interaction between gender, race, and class relations in pre- and post-migration settings appear to make women vulnerable to intimate partner violence as well as shape their responses to it. Further research is needed to develop a more comprehensive understanding of this interaction.
