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Dissertation Information for Josephine Sui-Fun Fong

NAME:
- Josephine Sui-Fun Fong

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Women's Studies

SCHOOL:
- York University (USA) (2000)

ADVISORS:
- Sandra Pyke

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Patricia McDermott
- Jane Couchman
- Amy Rossiter
- Varpu Lindstrom
- Janet Salaff

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Silent no more: How women experienced wife abuse in the local Chinese community

Abstract: The issue of male violence against women in heterosexual relationships has been studied intensely over the past few decades, but the experiences of Chinese immigrant women have not been included in much mainstream or feminist research. This study documents the experiences of Chinese immigrant women who have suffered wife abuse in the local context. Fourteen abused women and eleven helping professionals were interviewed for approximately 90 to 180 minutes each. The findings of this study demonstrate that in the process of handling their abuse, women experienced a great deal of pain and hardship due to their isolation, burdens of childcare responsibility, lack of English skills, unfamiliarity with the new environment and new culture, lack of an adequately paid job, and/or financial dependence on their husbands. However, although these women were stuck in an abusive situation, they employed a wide range of strategies to resist the abuse and protect themselves from different dangerous circumstances.

While these women were informed of the different options they had in combating male violence in their homes, because of their \"Chinese-ness\" and as immigrants, their cultural beliefs in family integrity and family obligation as well as their fear of further isolation often prevented them from viewing separation or divorce as an effective strategy. It was only after all the other strategies were exhausted and failed to stop the abuse that they would make up their minds to give up on their marriage and leave their husbands.

The results show that many helping professionals and abused women in this study did not realize the agency of women until they were asked to talk about it. Initially, these participants focused more on the victimization of the abused women. However, once they were \"directed\" to the issue of women\'s agency, they quickly saw or realized that women were not just victims of wife abuse but survivors and fighters. They felt that given time and adequate services or assistance, the women would be able to overcome their predicaments, raise their children in a good environment and contribute to the Canadian society in various ways.

The findings of this study also suggest that while both mainstream and ethnocultural communities have been doing very valuable and important work to help abused Chinese immigrant women deal with their abuse situations, service providers in the local context need to review their organizational philosophies about abused women, their characteristics and strengths, so that a more effective service delivery model and culturally appropriate approach to interpret the problem can be developed. For frontline workers, a reflection on their professional training with regard to the interpretation of abused women\'s behaviour and a re-evaluation of their professional approach to discussing a working solution with their clients are also required to achieve the goal of providing culturally sensitive services.

Finally, the findings of this study will be followed up by the researcher and participants. They will each bring the results to their affiliated groups or organizations. Further action will be taken when deemed appropriate and necessary.

MPACT Scores for Josephine Sui-Fun Fong

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-02-25 13:26:44

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