Article Recap
Intimate partner violence affects millions of American women annually with estimates reaching 4.4 million. Intimate partner violence happens across all cultures and results in severe health problems such as persistent pain, mental disorders, and even death in some cases. Typically, batterers become rigid to change their behavior, and most women in abusive relationships leave their partners to seek safety. The leaving decision is influenced by several factors such as economic, personal, and cultural factors. For Muslim women, leaving an abusive partner is a huge challenge (Hassouneh,2001). The article explores the research gap of experiences of abuse of American Muslim women and the challenges they face in leaving their abusive partners.
Cultural factors play a critical role in influencing Muslim women on whether to leave the relationship or stay. Allah disapproves of divorce, and thus Muslim women are left to wonder how divorce will affect their spirituality. Social stigma is inevitable for a woman who divorces her partner, and society requires the woman to stay in the marriage no matter the situation. The article reports that American Muslim women’s experiences of abandoning abusive marriages were community and family-based.
The contribution of the research in helping American Muslim Women
This research provides great help for American Muslim women. The process of leaving an abusive partner follows several stages such as arriving at the saturation point, getting an Islamic divorce, family and society discrimination, and regaining self. Many types of research have dealt with economic and personal factors that influence the decision to leave, but this article has majored in addressing the cultural factors that influence the decision to leave the abusive partner. Islamic culture forbids divorce strongly, and thus Muslim women are constrained by cultural factors which make them continue suffering under abusive relationships.
The research established a critical aspect of the importance of group orientation regarding leaving abusive partners. The study included Muslim women from different ethnic backgrounds in the United States and their experiences of leaving an abusive partner were similar to those of Arab Muslim women (Hassouneh,2001). However, the experiences were different from those of North American Muslim women. The research thus discourages the generalization of research findings across different cultures which helps this group of the population.
For American Muslim women, their experiences in leaving an abusive partner require community-based interventions. The collaboration of healthcare providers and Muslim communities is significant in facilitating community education programs and training to build a community that is supportive of abused women.
Moreover, the article encourages the development of Muslim customized educational materials convenient for Muslim readers (Hassouneh,2001). Additionally, developing a safe and convenient network for advocacy and referral is key for health caregivers and advocates in helping this group of the population. Further, the report suggests the need to develop American Muslims culturally sensitive services in healthcare facilities and Muslim shelters to help American Muslim women in abusive relationships.
Further Research
The research missed some critical aspects and further research on the matter can be conducted to help women in abusive relationships. The article majored on Muslim women, but there is a need to investigate the experiences of women in leaving abusive relationships in other group-oriented cultures (Campbell,1998). The research on other group-based cultures will help to identify religion, ethnicity, and location-specific variations of women’s experiences in leaving abusive marriages. These variations will help to generate accurate information for caregivers and advocates about intimate partner violence among diverse cultures. These actions help to ascertain the seriousness of the abusive relationships and the need to develop competent social care services for different populations.
References
Campbell, J. (1998). Making the health care system an empowerment zone for battered women: Health consequences, policy recommendations, introduction, and overview. In J. Campbell (Ed.), Empowering survivors of abuse—Health care for battered women and their children (pp. 90-108). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hassouneh-Phillips, D. (2001). American Muslim women’s experiences of leaving abusive relationships. Health Care for Women International, 22(4), 415-432.
