1. Practice Research Paper for the degree of
SYSTEMIC BARRIERS IMMIGRANT WOMEN SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FACE WHEN SEEKING SUPPORT IN CANADA
Practice Research Paper for the degree of
Master of Social Work
Virginia Duarte Walsh
October 11, 2016

2. Research Question
What are the systemic barriers immigrant women survivors of domestic violence face when seeking support?
How are these systemic barriers interconnected through primary forms of oppression?

3. Theoretical Framework
Critical Race Feminism:
Race and gender function together in creating social inequalities;
Generalized idea of a common gender experience proves to be obsolete;
Allows one to examine the intersectionality of multiple systems of oppression which are simultaneously discriminating and marginalizing women that do not fit under the norms of whiteness;
pushes research to look at how systemically existing policies and norms create an abusive environment for women

4. Barriers Immigrant Women Face when seeking support
Literature Review
Barriers Immigrant Women Face when seeking support
Within the Justice System
Within Social Services and Health Services
Immigration Status
Financial Dependence
Children’s Wellbeing
Homelessness
Isolation
Language
Cultural Barriers
Culture Blaming
Religious Barrier
Limited Knowledge
Existing Research

5. Design and Methods Systematic Literature Review Approach
Data collected from:
ProQuest (including Social Service Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and PsycINFO), Social Work Abstracts, Family and Society Studies Worldwide, Google Scholar, and Google
Inclusion Criteria: Any literature that was published between the years of 1994 and (both scholarly and grey) that discussed:
immigrant women
domestic violence
any type of systemic barriers that immigrant women survivors of domestic violence face when seeking support in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom
Exclusion Criteria: Any literature (both scholarly and grey) that discussed:
domestic violence experienced by immigrant women but did not discuss any barriers experienced by immigrant women,
domestic violence experienced by racialized women and the many barriers racialized women experience when seeking support but did not make a distinction between citizen women and immigrant women
barriers experienced by survivors of domestic violence but did not make a distinction between the barriers experienced by immigrant women and citizen women

6. Data Analysis

7. Data Analysis

8. Data Analysis

9. Data Analysis

10. Findings Systemic Barriers Immigrant Women Face when seeking support
Within the Justice System
Within Social Services and Health Services
Within Immigration System
Within Culture
Within Religion
Within Research

11. Limitations & Recommendations
Time
All articles found and analyzed only discussed heterosexual relationships
Very little research on barriers immigrant women survivors of domestic violence face when experiencing violence from those other than a male spouse
Recommendations:
Future research should use a critical race feminism perspective
social workers or anyone working with immigrant women survivors of domestic violence should question what primary forms of oppression, if any, are driving the practices, the services and the policies one is adhering to
Future research needs to specifically look at barriers and the systemic barriers LGBTQ immigrant women survivors of domestic violence face when seeking
More research needs to be done on domestic violence experienced by immigrant women by people other than their partners

12. Conclusion

13. Thank you for your attention