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Domestic violence is surrounded by myths and stereotypes. The myth that it's worse in Islamic cultures, and non-existent in Jewish households; the stereotype that all women from the Indian subcontinent are submissive, and all African-Caribbean women are feisty.

In fact, there is evidence to suggest that between 20 and 30 per cent of all women, from all cultures, will be attacked by a partner at some point in their life. And many of the circumstances and feelings connected to domestic violence are common to women from all cultures. They are usually isolated from support networks, suffering from low self-esteem and struggling with a powerful combination of shame, fear, humiliation and anger. They know that going to the police or leaving the family home will throw their life and that of their children, family and friends into turmoil. They know that their partner may lose his job, gain a criminal record, be sent to prison, or retaliate against them.

But if the decision to go to the authorities is difficult for anyone, women from ethnic minorities face a range of additional barriers to getting the help they need. These barriers are especially pronounced for women who have insecure immigration status.

In minority communities where public authorities are viewed as following a hostile, white agenda, it can be difficult even to contemplate seeking help. Women face the threat of being punished for bringing shame on their family, or being publicly ostracised for tarnishing the community's view of itself.

For instance, there can be great resistance within the Jewish community to the idea that domestic violence even happens. Marilyn Norman is executive director of Jewish Women's Aid, which runs the only refuge for Jewish women in Europe. She says: "Many people can't or won't believe that it exists in the Jewish community. There's a very powerful set of standards and beliefs around the culture, about how great it is to be part of that community and how important families are. That does silence people."

Conversely, women who do upset the apple cart can find themselves isolated from the only support network they had. Being sent to a refuge a long distance away helps prevent women from being found by violent partners, but they may end up even more isolated than they were before.

Language can also be a problem. Going to a police station or social services department to report your partner's behaviour is a difficult prospect even if English is your first language. For women who speak little or no English the idea of trying to make yourself understood in an unfamiliar and potentially hostile environment can be terrifying.

In addition, there can be real dangers around translation and interpretation. Translators can be very hard to come by, particularly for ethnic groups with very small populations, with the result that there's a good chance a woman may know the person translating for her. Women giving a statement to the police have been known to find themselves being given a lecture by a translator who knows their husband.

Women with several children may also find themselves in difficulties. While most refuges can accommodate up to three children with their mother, any more means the family takes up two rooms, which puts refuges in a difficult position because they lose the rental income from the second room.

Particular beliefs, customs and sensibilities can also play a part. Many orthodox Jewish women would find sharing a kitchen with non-Jews intolerable because of the need to keep kosher. Observance of holy days such as the Sabbath can be impossible in a mixed refuge. Cooking particular dishes, observing religious duties and even terms of endearment may cause upset or attract comment or ridicule from other women.

In fact, racism is far from uncommon in refuges. New research looking at the experiences of ethnic minority women¹ suggests that some are having to make a stark choice between racial abuse in a refuge or physical abuse in their home. As one Irish woman puts it: "I've only got one abuser at home. Here there's a group of eight women treating me like shit."

According to Khatidja Chantler, independent researcher and co-manager of the jointly funded European Social Fund and Manchester Metropolitan University study: "Many of the women we interviewed said that they'd been to mainstream refuges and found them very alienating because of the racism they experienced there. There's this idea that women-only spaces are safe spaces - for women from minority communities they often aren't."

Many professionals working with women from minority communities argue that there are great dangers inherent in making assumptions about people's needs and background. Davina James-Hanman is domestic violence co-ordinator for London, and is responsible for the capital's domestic violence strategy. She says: "There's a myth that women from the Indian subcontinent always have a massive extended family who are very oppressive. Quite often that's not the case - and women whose extended family are supportive often find it easier to leave than a middle class white woman who has few friends or family locally. We have to be careful to make sure that there's a clear distinction between being 'culturally sensitive' and what is, in effect, institutional racism. For instance, despite the many and varied populations in London, there are 11 different services for Asian women suffering domestic violence, and only one for African-Caribbean women."

Others suggest that many refuge workers and professionals in statutory agencies are suffering from "race anxiety" which prevents them from acting decisively in domestic violence cases. They suggest that there is a nervousness about being seen to be "interfering" in a different culture's practices and beliefs.

James-Hanman argues that there is a need for both culturally specific services for victims of domestic violence, and for mainstream services which are sensitive to the needs of women for ethnic minorities. And one of the key things that came out of the study was women's need for emotional support. Refuge staff were felt to be excellent, hard-working and supportive, doing many practical things for the women in their care. But what many women craved was a shoulder to cry on and someone to listen, and to provide emotional support.


Asylum seekers and women who entered the country through marriage to British citizens have many of the same problems around domestic violence as other women, but the problems they face are often compounded by their status in immigration law.

According to Davina James-Hanman: "Abusers will use anything to establish control over someone - for instance, immigration status. He'll say, even if it's totally untrue, that if she makes a fuss she'll be deported. He will usually be keeping her passport and intercepting her mail. And some women come from countries where domestic violence doesn't exist as a concept. So the idea that there might be protection for them here doesn't occur to them. "I'm not a fan of David Blunkett but the detail of the citizenship classes he's proposing could be good because it would inform women about their legal rights and about marriage and divorce laws."

Accommodation is unnecessarily problematic. Under the one-year rule, women who entered the country "for the purposes of marriage" must stay married for one year, during which time they have no recourse to public funds. Refuges, which rely on housing benefit to pay rent on each woman's room, have until now managed to fudge the finances enough to raise the rent needed for these women. But the introduction of Supporting People means that fudging must now come to an end, potentially leaving refuges unable to provide services to women not entitled to housing benefit and income support.

According to Khatidja Chantler: "It's very frightening how some women can be completely excluded from services by virtue of state practices such as immigration. Such practices intersect with domestic violence so that women become trapped in abusive relationships. The welfare state is there to provide a safety net for everyone but these women are excluded from it. And the Home Office wants to extend that period to two years, which will leave them in that situation for even longer."

Diana Mills is co-ordinator of the Refugee Women's Resource Project. She says: There's a concession to the one-year rule for women who are subject to domestic violence, which means they can get out as long as they can show they've taken a legal remedy against that person - so they've taken out an injunction or they're pursuing a case against their partner, or have reported it to the police. But few of these women can meet that threshold."

Mills argues that the pressure on asylum seekers can make domestic violence worse. "I can't imagine anything more stressful than going through the asylum process. They may be being detained, with whole families living for months in one room. It's not surprising relationships break down. It comes out of desperation."

¹ Domestic Violence and Minoritisation - Supporting Women to Independence, Women's Studies Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, 0161 247 2535, £15

- Womens Aid domestic violence helpline: 08457 023468. Jewish Women's Aid free helpline: 0800 591203.

It’s time to change the law

Recommendations from the Women’s Studies Research Centre to improve options available to women suffering from domestic violence

• Change the law to give women with no access to public funds better protection from domestic violence, and information about how to use legal frameworks to protect themselves.
• Develop a national and local immigration welfare fund to support women without access to public funds.
• Identify children whose mothers have no recourse to public funds as "children in need" and to make mandatory the use of section 17 monies to support them.
• Broaden the responsibility for provision of domestic violence services, and nominate workers from relevant agencies to work with specific refuges, after care and outreach services.
• Create a staff development strategy to help staff work competently and confidently with women from ethnic minorities.
• Develop a counselling and complementary therapy service for women from ethnic minorities and a similar service for their children.
• Develop women’s survivor groups to combat isolation, share experiences and build on strengths.
• Develop or extend specialist refuge provision for women with mental health problems, for those with older male children who are currently excluded from many refuges, and for women from minority communities.
• Invest in improving the physical environment of refuges.
• Consider the creation of second stage supported housing for women and children who face additional barriers.
• Improve ways that women can access the labour market by facilitating training opportunities without affecting benefits.