One Size Doesn't Fit All: Dating Abuse Against Women From the Perspective of South Asian Muslim Youth in Canada.

Abstract

Despite the growing recognition of intersectionality in the field of domestic abuse, scholarship on dating abuse is still limited by its lack of attention to cultural context. To begin to address this gap, this article presents findings from an exploratory qualitative study of 11 South Asian Muslims' perceptions of behaviors/actions in dating relationships that they identify as being potentially experienced and/or understood differently by South Asian Muslim women. In particular, the participants identify (a) exposure to parents/community, (b) behaviors of a sexual nature, (c) controlling behaviors, and (d) psychological, emotional, and/or verbal behaviors/abuse as being experienced and understood in unique ways by South Asian Muslim women. By connecting these perceptions to the cultural context of South Asian Muslims, these findings support an intersectionality perspective by suggesting sociocultural variations in the meanings assigned to behaviors and/or actions.