Blog, Domestic Violence in South Asian Community

Every Child has a Dream

South Asian community is often collectively referred as Asians, due to which it has lost its typical attributes, which makes it different from other Asian countries. The southern region of Asia comprising of 8 countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, are geographically termed as South Asia. While violence and abuse do not demonstrate distinctly in the South Asian community, but there are a number of components and characteristics of South Asian culture that fuels the Domestic Violence.

Domestic Violence is a violence or any form of abuse, which is committed by a spouse or an intimate partner and which also sometimes involves non-cohabiting family members in a domestic setting. The common challenges that distinguish South Asian victims from any other domestic violence victims are: Immigration-related crisis, the stigma of divorce, taboo of talking against the spouse, patriarchy, joint family households, concept of honor and reputation, and support of dowry system in the society.

The voice of a South Asian victim is often lost under the pressure of balancing family values and maintaining a reputation in the community. These complex values and challenges often leave the victim vulnerable to crisis like fear of marriage failure, losing children, finding legal assistance, financial support, arranging translator, and many more.

Although domestic violence is a taboo in South Asian culture, but it prevails widely in the community. Domestic violence in this community is more than just physical abuse. It is physical, emotional, financial, and sexual. Often gender-based violence is suppressed in this community, and the lives of South Asian women are shadowed by the cultural burdens of shame. It is commonly seen in the South Asian culture that domestic violence is encouraged by the in-laws to practice power and control over the married daughter in law.

Domestic violence is an issue that impacts every South Asian in the community, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, caste, or immigration status. It is time to build a safer space and create a healthy environment to talk and address the issue. This public health crisis needs immediate action and support from various entities within the community.