IPV in the Asian American Immigrant Communities

Reading Reflection #7

Melissa Elizalde

Section A01

May 10th, 2014

    A Response to "Intimate Partner Violence Among Asian American Immigrant Communities"

by: Yeon-Shim Lee and Linda Hadeed

        Among this weeks' incredible reading selection, I am choosing to write and discuss about Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among Asian American immigrant communities. First off, I would like to begin by saying that this article was immensely informative and incredibly important. Seeing that there is an epidemic of IPV among the Asian immigrant population, I believe that is fitting that we discuss and learn about this issue in this class. Some of the most interesting arguments that this article made were on the contexts that create the epidemic of IPV. The first context that was discussed was the cultural context. In this context, the authors stated that gender norms were a cause of IPV among Asian American communities. From this perspective we see that in Asian immigrant communities, wife-beating is seem as culturally acceptable, and normal. I found this idea incredibly enlightening and in our discussion I hope we discuss how these cultural norms are also prevalent in the American culture. Another interesting context in which the authors explained IPV was through immigrant and acculturative stress. In this context the epidemic of IPV in Asian immigrant communities can be attributed to the increased stress that immigrants face when moving to a new country. The article then stated how said stress can lead to increased instances of violence. Among many other correlations found in this article, the authors also discussed links between physical abuse and mental and physical health problems. This fact was incredibly shocking to me, but what I found even more shocking, was the fact that Asian American immigrant women are the least likely to report these injustices. In conclusion, the authors encouraged future research on this topic and demanded culturally appropriate services for the women in these communities. I completely agree with this idea and believe that we need culturally appropriate services and programs for all who live in the United States, regardless of citizenship status. 

Question 1: Were you aware of the epidemic of IPV among Asian American immigrant communities?

Question 2: How do you think we can best address this issue? What actions need to be taken and by who?