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Domestic Violence and Women from a Non English-Speaking Background (NESB) with Disability

from the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA, Australia)

CULTURAL FACTORS

Ethnic communities are extremely diverse so it is difficult to make generalizations about the cultural issues relating to disability and gender. However, some similarities exist in every community.

Like all women with disability, women from a NESB with disability are devalued on the basis of their disability and their gender. Like all women, women from a NESB live in a culture dominated by men. This is no different in ethnic communities than in Anglo communities. As a result, men enjoy an elevated social and economic status in comparison with women.

Women from ethnic backgrounds experience the additional disadvantage of coming from a non-English speaking background. Coming from a NESB disadvantages women with disability within the context of domestic violence for many reasons. For example:

• the lack of information provided in community languages
• the lack of culturally appropriate services available
• the lack of education received by ethnic communities about disability, rights, etc
• the fear of bringing ‘shame’ to their family if an incidence of domestic violence is reported
• the fear of disconnection from their family
• racism can prevent reporting: women fear racist responses and therefore do not report incidents of domestic violence
• cultural stereotypes: police, magistrates, (sic) etc believing violence is an acceptable part of ‘their culture’

These multiple layers of disadvantage can exacerbate a woman’s lack of willingness to talk about issues of domestic violence. The issue of domestic violence is certainly an extremely private issue for many women.

It has been NEDA’s experience that women from a NESB may be willing to discuss issues of domestic violence and abuse with other women of the same ethnic background but are more than likely to be uncomfortable discussing this with women from Anglo-Saxon communities. The creation of ethno-specific support groups has proven to be effective and could be one strategy employed to deal with this issue.

ACCESS TO SERVICES:

DISABILITY

Like all women with disability, women from a NESB experience difficulties in accessing women’s and mainstream services due to their disability. Barriers can include:

• denial of entry to a service on the basis of disability
• a lack of knowledge about the needs of women with disability by services, thus preventing effective support of women with disability experiencing domestic violence
• lack of awareness by women with disability about the availability of appropriate support services
• inaccessible physical environment

ETHNICITY

Perhaps an even greater barrier for women from a NESB with disability wanting to access a service is their ethnicity. In New South Wales, three out of four people from a NESB with disability miss out on receiving non-government disability services. In Australia, three out of four people from a NESB with disability miss out on receiving Commonwealth-funded disability services. This is in addition to the current unmet need for people with disability in general.

This figure stands despite genuine efforts made by many to redress this appalling situation. This figure points towards the need to seek systemic solu-tions to the entire community service system, involving all stakeholders.

Many services seem unable to accommodate linguistic and cultural diversity because:

• ethnic communities tend to be overlooked when considering the ‘target group’
• staff need continual, accredited, quality training in cultural difference, diversity, and disability and, in particular, the nature and reality of the person’s experiences
• the community-services system has not adopted even the most basic mechanisms for people from NESB, such as the use of interpreters or the publication of material in languages other than English; poor English-language skills can prevent women from accessing services so they have less opportunity to seek assistance when domestic violence effects them
• there are insufficient strategies and practices to ensure that women from a NESB with disability are able to participate in decision-making
• the myth of extended family support is still subscribed to by both service providers and funding bodies resulting in fewer services for NESB communities

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Access to information is often the first step for women from a NESB with disability receiving help with domestic violence. Access to information means, in effect, access to opportunities and therefore choices to seek and receive assistance when domestic violence becomes a reality.

Like all people from NESB, women from NESB with disability and their families and carers experience increased difficulties in accessing services because of the lack of resources made available for interpreters and translations.

Services such as the Translation and Interpreting Service (TIS) and the Ethnic Affairs Commission language services have increasingly adopted the user-pay principle, severely restricting the number of free or subsidized on-site and telephone interpreting sessions available to people and non-profit service providers.

The costs for language services are mostly unbudgeted, resulting in:

• a reduction in community services for women with disability from NESB
• the provision of inappropriate information
• the overall increase in the use of family members and other relatives as interpreters, in violation of standards such as confidentiality, dignity, privacy, etc.

ACCESS TO EDUCATION

By and large, NESB communities have missed out on education campaigns about disability, women’s issues, rights, and entitlements because those conducting the campaigns have failed to target and reach NESB communities.

Women with disability from a NESB have not had the same opportunities to access public education about:

• disability issues and disability rights
• women’s issues and women’s rights
• the availability of community services
• mainly because most education has been
in English

As a result, women from a NESB with disability are left disempowered and at a severe disadvantage when it comes to seeking assistance with domestic violence.

CREDIBILITY

Like many women with disability, women from a NESB also suffer from the ‘lack of credibility’ when it comes to reporting incidences of domestic violence, especially women with psychiatric or developmental disability. Those in positions of power (ie, police officer, magistrate, carer, partner, doctor, etc) can deny the credibility of reports made by women from NESB with disability in relation to domestic violence.

This is perhaps the greatest barrier to women from a NESB who are seeking assistance, and further contributes to the vulnerability experienced by women with disability in domestic violence situations. [See sidebar.]

Excerpted and reprinted with permission from a paper prepared by the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) in Australia, December 2001.

Sidebar:

Mahan: A Case Study

Mahan is from Iran, coming to Australia with her family as a refugee. Mahan has basic English language skills. She also has an intellectual disability.

Mahan does not live with her family. Mahan lives with her boyfriend. She was raped and beaten in her home by her neighbour, who had access to her home because he was a friend of her boyfriend. Mahan first went to her boyfriend and told him what had happened. He told her that she was just making it up and to stop telling such awful stories.
Mahan then decided to go to the police station and report what had happened. Mahan was interviewed by two male police officers.

No interpreter was provided for Mahan. No female support worker was provided to Mahan. No information was provided to Mahan about where she could access support.
At the end of the interview the police officers told her that they did not believe she had been assaulted and to go home.

Pull Quotes:

Multiple layers of disadvantage can exacerbate a woman’s lack of willingness to talk.

Ethnic communities tend to be overlooked when considering the ‘target group’.

Access to information means access to choices when domestic violence becomes a reality.