Cultural Considerations and Challenges to Service Delivery for Sudanese Victims of Domestic Violence: Insights from Service Providers and Actors in the Criminal Justice System*
| DOI | 10.1177/026975800701400107 |
| Published date | 01 January 2007 |
| Author | Pauline K. Brennan,Elizabeth M. Keller |
| Date | 01 January 2007 |
International
Review
ofVictimology.
2001,
Vol.
14,
pp.
ll5-141
0269-7580/07$10
© A B
Academic
Publishers
-
Printed
in
Great
Britain
CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
AND
CHALLENGES TO
SERVICE
DELIVERY
FOR
SUDANESE
VICTIMS
OF
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: INSIGHTS FROM SERVICE
PROVIDERS
AND
ACTORS
IN
THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE
SYSTEM*
ELIZABETH
M.
KELLER
and
PAULINE
K.
BRENNAN
University
of
Nebraska
at
Omaha,
USA.
ABSTRACT
Omaha,
Nebraska
has
recently
seen
an
influx
of
immigrant
refugees
from
the
African
nation
of
Sudan.
Domestic
violence
service
providers
worry
that
many
Sudanese
women
are
suffering
abuse
in
silence.
With
lhaL
in
mind,
we
identified
a
number
of
common
obsLacles
lhaL
immigranl
women
are
likely
to
face
when
accessing
services
for
domestic
violence.
We
interviewed
victim
advocates,
criminal
justice
personnel,
and
other
community-based
service
providers.
Our
respondents
identified
the
areas
of
difficulty
they
encountered
most
frequently
when
working
with
Sudanese
clients.
Everyone
interviewed
agreed
that
Sudanese
cultural
norms
created
barriers
to
service
delivery.
Our
respondents
also
discussed
the
strategies
they
employed
when
they
provided
services
to
Sudanese
women,
along
with
their
impressions
about
how
well
or
how
poorly
those
approaches
worked.
We
present
their
experiences.
their
challenges.
and
their
recommendations
for
the
future.
Keywords:
Sudanese
immigrant
women
-domestic
violence
-
ethno-gendered
approach-
cultural
barriers
to
service
delivery
INTRODUCTION
It is well-established within criminological literature that domestic violence is
a
crime
that affects
women
of
all
ages,
races, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
*
The
order
of
authorship
was
decided
by
coin
toss.
We
are
very
grateful
to
all
of
the
staff of
the
Omaha
YWCA,
the
Omaha
Police
Department,
the
Douglas
County
District
Attorney's
Office,
and
all
of
the
community
service
agency
representatives
who
graciously
shared
their
time
and
their
thoughts
with
us
in
the
preparation
of
this
study.
We
also
thank
Cassia
Spohn
and
the
entire
faculty
of
the
Department
of
Criminal
Justice
at
the
University
of
Nebraska
at
Omaha
for
their
support
of
our
research.
Finally,
we
are
very
grateful
to
the
editors
of
the
International
Review
of
Victimology
and
the
anonymous
reviewers
for
their
assistance
and
helpful
conunents.
Address
correspondence
to
Elizabeth
M.
Keller,
The
University
of
Nebraska
at
Omaha,
Department
of
Criminal
Justice,
DSC
208,
600
I
Dodge
Street,
Omaha,
NE
68182-0149,
USA.
E-mail:
ekeller@mail.unomaha.edu
116
Until
recently,
however,
little
attention
had
been
paid to
the
experiences
and
needs
of
immigrant
women.
These
clients
certainly
matter
to
law
enforcement
and
domestic
violence
service
providers,
who
seek
to
serve
all
victims.
Research consistently details the same set
of
concerns that face all
victims
of
domestic violence.
Women
sometimes blame themselves for
the abuse, feel ashamed about their victimization, and feel unable to ask
for
help (Belknap, 1992; Browne, 2004).
Women
who wish to consider
leaving the abusive relationship must face very real concerns for their
safety
if
they leave and deal with the practical aspects
of
surviving
emotionally and financially
on
their own (Browne, 2004).
Although
there
are
concerns
common
to
all
victims
of
domestic
violence,
the
needs
of
immigrant
victims
may
be
especially
challenging
to
address
be-
cause
of
language
barriers
for
immigrant
women,
along
with
cultural
beliefs
that
may
normalize
domestic
violence,
a
lack
of
knowledge
of
protective
re-
sources,
and
a
reluctance
to
seek
assistance.
Santiago's
(2002:
p.
469)
research
with
Latina
women,
for
example,
revealed
that
many
Latina
women
who
expe-
rience
abuse
by
their
husbands
were
reluctant
to
call
police
because
they
doubted
that
the
police
would
be
able
to
speak
with
them
(most
in
this
study
knew
little
or
no
English)
and
because
they
feared
deportation
if
they
came
into
contact
with
the
police.
In
line
with
these
findings,
Senturia
and
her
colleagues
(2000:
pp.
127-29)
reported
that
Russian
immigrant
women
believed
the
po-
lice
would
not
help
them
and
would
not
be
able
to
communicate
with
them.
Asian
women
may
prove
similarly
challenging
for
service
providers.
Lee
(2002:
p.
474)
found
substantial
victim
reluctance
to
call
the
police,
not
only
because
of
language
barriers,
but
also
because
of
intense
cultural
pressure
to
keep
family
matters
private.
Moreover,
immigrant
women
are
unlikely
to
be
aware
of
available
domestic
violence
services
(Bui,
2003:
p.
226;
Lee,
2002:
p.
480;
Morracco
eta/., 2005:
p.
349;
Senturia
eta/., 2000:
p.
56).
Such
findings
demonstrate
the
importance
of
studying
immigrant
groups
in
the
United
States
in
order
to
better
inform
service
providers,
especially
those
who
work
in
communities
with
large
populations
of
particular
immigrants.
As
Bhyuan
and
Senturia
(2005:
p.
896)
so
aptly
point
out,
'There
is
a
growing
rec-
ognition that
understanding
how
various
communities
perceive
and
respond
to
domestic
violence
is
essential
for
designing
effective,
culturally
competent
in-
terventions.'
Omaha,
Nebraska
has
recently
seen
an
influx
of
immigrant
refugees
from
the
African
nation
of
the
Sudan.
Present
estimates
are
that
between
6,000
to
7,000
Sudanese
refugees
live
in
Omaha
and
its
surrounding
area,
making
this
the
largest
single
community
of
Sudanese
immigrants
in
the
United
States
(Gonzalez,
2005).
Most
Sudanese
immigration
to
the
United
States
is
presently
based
on
the
need
to
escape
the
decades-long
civil
war
in
the
country
between
Muslims,
who
live
predominantly
in
the
northern
region
of
the
country,
and
Christians,
who
live
predominantly
in
the
south
(U.S.
Committee
for
Refugees
and
Immigrants,
2004).
Current
estimates
are
that
as
many
as
20,000
Suda-
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