Introduction
Sexual assault is one of the most prevalent reported cases of violence in the United States (US). Women are disproportionately affected by this problem, specifically because they can also suffer from intimate partner violence (IPV). According to Modi, Palmer, and Armstrong (2014), every year, over 5 million women in the US are victims of IPV. The problem of sexual assault, especially cases related to IPV, is highly pronounced among South Asian immigrant women. Such victims are not willing to report sexual assault cases due to cultural aspects and the fear that the involved authorities may not act appropriately.
Therefore, there is an overarching need to come up with a program to act as a resource for survivors of sexual assault. The purpose of this paper is to discuss South Asian immigrant women as a group disproportionately affected by sexual violence, specifically IPV. The paper also describes two programs that have been used in other places before recommending one that can be used in the context of South Asian immigrant women in California.
South Asian Immigrant Women as Survivors of IPV
South Asian immigrants form a sizeable number of the America population based on the available statistics. According to the United States Census Bureau (2017), 5.3 million South Asian immigrants lived in the US in 2017, which was close to 40 percent increment from the 2010 census. Women in this population cohort experience disproportionate cases of domestic violence, especially IPV. Jordan and Bhandari (2016) note that while the lifetime prevalence of domestic violence in the country is about 20 percent, South Asian immigrants report as high as 40 percent of sexual and physical abuse cases, which could rise to 50 percent when psychological and emotional abuses are included.
However, despite the high prevalence cases of IPV cases among women in these communities, a culture of silence and shame prevents victims from reporting when abused. Gonclaves and Matos (2016) argue that women in this population cohort tend to remain in abusive relationships and there are few support resources for them. Jordan and Bhandari (2016) posit that the majority of mainstream service providers in the US either ignore or are unaware of the plight of South Asian immigrant women as victims of IPV.
In addition, the cultural set-up of this community is organized in a way that discourages reporting cases of IPV. One of the main practices contributing to silence is the concept of filial piety or the belief that family comes first before self (Jordan & Bhandari, 2016). This realization underscores the need to have an intervention program to assist survivors of sexual violence among women of South Asian descent. The following section highlights some of the programs that have been used in other places to address a similar problem among South Asian immigrant women in California.
Programs that Have Been Used Elsewhere
Wyoming Trauma Telehealth Treatment Clinic
This clinic was established as a resource to provide psychotherapy services to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. According to Monahan (2019), if not addressed appropriately, IPV cases could lead to associated psychological conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and other related mental disorders. Therefore, the Wyoming Trauma Telehealth Treatment Clinic was established to offer support systems for such survivors to ensure that they do not suffer from further aggravated mental conditions.
Doctoral students undertaking psychology at the University of Wyoming were involved and they would provide psychotherapy services through videoconferencing to survivors in two rural locations – Carbon County COVE in rural Rawlins and Gillette Abuse Refuge Foundation in rural Gillette (Rural Health Information Hub, 2019b). Every week, survivors from these two centers would receive 60-90 minutes sessions of psychotherapy services from doctoral students in the institution under the supervision of qualified psychologists.
Before the establishment of this program, the two facilities would refer survivors of sexual assault to practitioners located in other places. In 2015, a review study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the program. The results showed a decreased prevalence of PTSD and depression among survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault (Gray et al., 2015). The program performed well by offering free psychotherapy services to vulnerable individuals.
Second, the teleconferencing was encrypted and thus clients’ privacy was ensured. Additionally, the doctoral students involved in the process were trained in trauma intervention, and by working under the supervision of a qualified psychologist, they offered professional services. However, the 60-90 weekly minutes that the psychotherapy services were offered is not enough, and in the future, more time should be allocated to ensure that clients get adequate support.
Butte Child Evaluation Center
This center was established to address cases of sexual abuse among children by offering help to victims of child abuse and their caregivers. According to Rural Health Information Hub (2019a), before 2000, the Child and Family Services Division (CFSD) of Butte “had an average of 1,300 cases of child abuse a year. They had a low conviction rate for perpetrators of child sexual abuse (around 20%), and there were 220 registered sexual and violent offenders in Butte” (para. 3).
This scenario necessitated the need for establishing and advocacy center to provide the much-needed support to sexually abused children in the region. Different organizations, including St. James Healthcare, Head Start, Early Head Start, School District #1, Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement, and Silver Bow County attorney’s office teamed up to form the Butte Child Evaluation Center (Rural Health Information Hub, 2019a). Services provided at this center included creating public safety awareness about signs of sexual abuse among children, clinical evaluation and therapy, and victim advocacy.
The involvement of multi agencies underscores one of the areas that the program performed well. Involving different players ensured that on top of getting clinical evaluation and therapy services, the victims also got justice through increased prosecution of perpetrators. In addition, children received technical skills on how to protect themselves from sexual abuse. Two satellite clinics were also established in Butte to bring services closer to people that need them.
However, the program could improve service delivery by increasing the number of satellite clinics across Butte so that children can be helped within their neighborhoods. The involved multi-agencies can also enlist schools and areas of worship in the advocacy program to ensure that everyone in the community is involved in protecting children from sexual abuse.
Recommendation
Based on the lessons learned from the Wyoming Trauma Telehealth Treatment Clinic and Butte Child Evaluation Center, a similar program could be established in California to help survivors of IPV among South Asian immigrant women. Given that California is a large state with the target group spread across the region, teleconferencing would be the most appropriate way of offering help to IPV survivors. This model would borrow heavily from the Wyoming Trauma Telehealth Treatment Clinic whereby university doctoral students studying psychology would be used to provide psychotherapy services to the targeted women in this region. For the students to qualify for the program, they should be trained in trauma intervention and work under the supervision of doctoral-level psychologists.
However, given that victims of IPV are unlikely to report cases of abuse, the Butte Child Evaluation Center model would be integrated to create awareness about the need to seek help. Therefore, local advocacy groups and religious sects would be used to encourage survivors of IPV to speak up as the starting point to getting the necessary help. Cultural issues and language barriers will be the major impediments to the implementation of this program hence the need for support from the local community. Immigrant attorneys, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors would also be involved to bring justice to survivors of such abuse. Establishing new centers could be costly, and thus the cost-effective way would be collaborating with local care providers to create space for the teleconferencing to take place.
Conclusion
Sexual assault is a common problem in the United States with women suffering disproportionately. Immigrant women of South Asian descent are prone to IPV and they normally do not report cases of abuse when they occur. Therefore, borrowing from the Wyoming Trauma Telehealth Treatment Clinic and Butte Child Evaluation Center, a new program would be established in California to provide psychotherapy services to IPV survivors through teleconferencing. A multi-agency approach should be used to overcome cultural and language barriers associated with South Asian immigrant women and ensure that they get justice.
References
Rural Health Information Hub (2019a). Butte Child Evaluation Center. Web.
Rural Health Information Hub (2019b). Wyoming Trauma Telehealth Treatment Clinic. Web.
Gonclaves, M., & Matos, M. (2016). Prevalence of violence against immigrant women: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Family Violence, 31, 697-710. Web.
Gray, M. J., Hassija, C. M., Jaconis, M., Barrett, C., Zheng, P., Steinmetz, S., & James, T. (2015). Provision of evidence-based therapies to rural survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault via telehealth: Treatment outcomes and clinical training benefits. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 9(3), 235-241.
Jordan, A., & Bhandari, S. (2016). Lived experiences of South Asian women facing domestic violence in the United States. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 25(3), 227-246. Web.
Modi, M. N., Palmer, S., & Armstrong, A. (2014). The role of Violence Against Women Act in addressing intimate partner violence: A public health issue. Journal of Women’s Health, 23(3), 253-259. Web.
Monahan, K. (2019). Intimate partner violence (IPV) and neurological outcomes: A review for practitioners. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 28(7), 807-825.
United States Census Bureau. (2017). American community survey 1-year estimates: Total Asian alone or in any combination population. Web.