How the ‘Culture’ in ‘Culturally and Linguistically Diverse’ Inhibits Intersectionality in Australia: A Study of Domestic Violence Policy and Services

Abstract

ABSTRACT In Australia, policy and services addressing gendered violence are increasingly taking up ‘intersectionality’ as a concept to better include refugee and migrant women’s needs and interests. Drawing on critical policy analysis and interviews with front-line workers from domestic violence, refugee resettlement, and migrant-specific services, this article examines intersectionality in policies and services. It shows that so far, most policies and practices fail to acknowledge racism and other structures that exclude refugee and migrant women. We argue that the way culture is defined and deployed in policy and practice contributes to racism and exclusion, and inhibits intersectionality. Specifically, the category of ‘Culturally and Linguistically Diverse’ (CALD) erases the experiences and needs of refugee and migrant women, and shores up the power of white-dominated mainstream organisations, views and processes. We show that via CALD, culture is essentialised, racialised, and conflated with difference. For intersectionality to gain traction, current notions of culture and diversity need to be rethought, and racism and white privilege need to be addressed.