Fonteyne, Hannah, Podritske, Karlee, Park, Tanya, and Hegadoren, Kathleen (2023) Immigrant Women's Experiences of Domestic Violence in Canada: A Qualitative File Audit. Journal of Family Violence. (In Press)

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Abstract

Purpose: Domestic violence (DV) experienced by immigrant women is a global health concern. Precarious immigration status, language barriers, and discrimination can lead to reluctance in seeking support. Is a non-profit charitable organization and support center for immigrant women. Participants in this study were immigrant women who attended Changing Together. The aim of this study is to illustrate immigrant women’s experiences of DV and identify the community services they access.

Methods: The files of a social worker at Changing Together were audited for this project. There were 1,034 files available to audit. The six steps of thematic analysis were used to create themes from the notes of each file, specifically to answer the question: what are the experiences of immigrant women with domestic violence and what are the services they access through Changing Together?

Results: Three themes were developed: Building Independence, Surviving Abuse, and Services to Support Surviving. Building Independence centres on women building solid foundations to start their lives in Canada to support themselves and their families. Surviving Abuse encompasses the hardships women endured for the perceived sake of their children until there was an event leading to the unavoidable need for change. Services to Support Surviving explores the services women accessed through the social worker at Changing Together.

Conclusions: This study highlights the complexities of immigrant women enduring DV in a foreign country. The file notes described women’s experiences of living with hardships and endurance of challenges. Further research should identify community resources for this population.

Item ID:	82247
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1573-2851
Keywords:	Domestic violence, Immigrant women, File audit, Thematic analysis
Copyright Information:	© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023
Date Deposited:	21 Feb 2024 22:52
FoR Codes:	44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4402 Criminology > 440209 Gender and crime @ 100%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2003 Provision of health and support services > 200307 Nursing @ 100%
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