Young Arab Women’s Processes of Coping With Girl Abuse: Intersection of Patriarchal Oppression and Being a National Minority in Israel

Abstract

Young Arab women who have been abused in childhood are vulnerable due to their marginalized positions in Israeli society. These positions include their gender, age, ethnicity, and nationality, alongside facing abuse. These intersecting positions may jeopardize their developmental process into adulthood. In this qualitative study of 20 young Arab women in Israel, we analyzed their coping processes following multitype maltreatment in childhood and adolescence. In the short term, we identified four strategies of coping: keeping problems to oneself, self-blame, giving up, and using stress relief practices. In the long term, we identified two main patterns of coping: distancing and integration. The integration pattern was manifested in two ways. One was a more accepting tone of the sociocultural reality through the use of rationalization and a positive restructuring of the self. The other was a more critical tone toward Arab society. Our findings underscore the influences of the sociocultural environments that shape the coping processes of young Arab women who have experienced girl abuse. Moreover, our study suggests that the developmental stage of young adulthood may be a critical phase for reaching out to young Arab women who have experienced girl abuse.