Introduction to the Special Issue on Domestic Violence and the South Asian Community

Abstract

The South Asian community in the United States is composed of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent (primarily, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) and immigrants from the lands of the South Asian diaspora, including the Caribbean nations and South American countries. In themselves, these countries represent complex and diverse histories. Individuals coming from these countries are therefore influenced by a variety of sociopolitical, socioeconomic, cultural, religious, and historical factors that guide their behaviors toward themselves and others. Thus, when we try to address the issue of domestic violence in this community, it is difficult to isolate a single factor or set of factors to explain the phenomenon. Indeed, the South Asian peoples from these countries carry with them their national heritage and their religious heritages of Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity. Hence, grasping the social dimensions associated with family violence requires a deep knowledge of these varied cultural and religious structures and histories. The obstacles to understanding domestic violence in this community are enormous, including the high level of secretiveness and fear operating among its members, which demarcate the very nature of the problem. These factors create a great challenge to the professional community and to the survivors, advocates, and community-based organizations interested in addressing this problem. For now we can only rely on preliminary, informal, and limited statistics about the problem until a more open forum to address the issue is found. It is essential to facilitate dialogue wherein discussion can take place. This was, indeed, the goal of the conference organized at St. John’s University on April 4, 1998, entitled “Furthering the Dialogue: Domestic Violence in the South Asian Immigrant Community.” It is dangerous to neglect this problem in a community that is increasing in number, making it likely that the number of domestic abuse cases may increase from an already threatening level. There are serious physical health, mental health, educational, occupational, and legal issues related to this problem that should be of concern to the professional and academic community.