 Main Culture Divorce Extended Families Controlling Husbands Being in a new country  |
Moving to a new country is difficult for any ordinary being due to a natural culture shock, but when there is violence involved in this experience as well, immigrant women are left devastated by this experience. Culture shock can increase feelings of stress, powerlessness, frustration and anger, which may contribute to or exacerbate the problem of abuse in families. Many South Asian men living in the Canada or the United States choose to go back to their countries of origin to find brides. One of the many reasons behind this is the stereotype that South Asian women are traditional, home-loving, faithful, submissive, depended, and self-sacrificing (Narayan, 1995). Being in a new land of strangers, these women have very little or no knowledge about their rights, laws, or the types of resources that are available to them. As a result, they continue to keep on living in fear and suffering imposed on them by their abusers (Dosanjh et al, 1994). In addition, Many South Asian immigrant women lack a clear functioning of the English language and this factor makes it difficult to communicate with resources (Naresh, 1996). Therefore, language barriers can also impede their ability to negotiate the routines of everyday life without their husbands� assistance (Narayan, 1995). In addition, this factor prevents women from having social relationships except with those who share their linguistic background; however, members of their linguistic community are often people connected to the husband, unlikely to assist against the husband�s abusive conduct (Hogeland and Rosen, 1990, as cited in Narayan, 1995). 
 Dosanjh, R., Deo, S., Sidhu, S. (1994). Spousal Abuse in the South Asian Community. Vancouver: Feminist Narayan, U. (1995). Male-order brides: immigrant women, domestic violence and immigration law. Hypatia. 10, 104- Naresh, H. (1996). Domestic Violence. Retrieved March. 3, 2003 from  This web site is designed by Harveer Sihota and Beant Grewal, April 2003 |
