Citation

Du Mont J, Forte T. BMJ Open 2012; 2(6): 2012-00172.

Affiliation

Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001728

PMID

23148344

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To compare immigrant and Canadian-born women on the physical and psychological consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV), as well as examine important sociodemographic, health and social support and network factors that may shape their experiences of abuse. METHOD: National, population-based, cross-sectional survey conducted in 2009. PARTICIPANTS: 6859 women reported contact with a current or former partner in the previous 5 years, of whom 1480 reported having experienced emotional, financial, physical and/or sexual IPV. Of these women, 218 (15%) were immigrants and 1262 (85%) were Canadian-born. RESULTS: Immigrant women were less likely than Canadian-born women to report having experienced emotional abuse (15.3% vs 18.2%, p=0.04) and physical and/or sexual violence (5.1% vs 6.9%, p=0.04) from a current or former partner. There were no differences between immigrant and Canadian-born women in the physical and psychological consequences of physical and/or sexual IPV. However, compared with Canadian-born women, immigrant women reported lower levels of trust towards their neighbours (50.7% vs 41.5%, p=0.04) and people they work or go to school with (38.6% vs 27.5%, p=0.02), and were more likely to report having experienced discrimination based on ethnicity or culture (18.8% vs 6.8%, p<0.0001), race or skin colour (p=0.003) and language (10.1% vs 3.2%, p<0.0001). Immigrant women were less likely than Canadian-born women to report activity limitations (p=0.01) and medication use for sleep problems (14.1% vs 20.6%, p=0.05) and depression (11.5% vs 17.6%, p=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our exploratory study revealed no differences between immigrant and Canadian-born women in the physical and psychological consequences of IPV. Abused immigrant women's lower levels of trust for certain individuals and experiences of discrimination may have important implications for seeking help for IPV and underscores the need for IPV-related intervention and prevention services that are culturally sensitive and appropriate.

Language: en