1. The Experiences of Family Violence of Muslim Women in Scotland Nughmana Mirza

2. Project Aim To examine in depth a policy relevant aspect of Muslim women’s experiences in Scotland, namely family violence, with a focus on South Asian women and to document both user and service provider perspectives on policies and services to address family violence.

3. Research Questions The research project aims to address the following questions: How do Muslim women experience and understand family violence? (i.e. How are they naming the abuse?; Do they consider the abuse to be violence?; Do they see it in some way legitimate? In what context does such violence occur? How do Muslim women resist violence and what role is played for them by faith and culture in preventing and resisting violence?

4. To what extent and at what points do Muslim women seek support? If so how and from whom? (i.e. Muslim community, formal services) What formal services do Muslim women say they need and why? What are Muslim women’s experiences of service provision? Do existing services meet these needs and are they culturally and religiously sensitive?

5. Methodology The principal methods of data collection will be in-depth interviews and questionnaires. The dataset will be generated by interviews with 40 Muslim women and 15-20 service providers following completion of a postal questionnaire.

6. Ethical Issues Access Harm Confidentiality Insider/Outsider Dilemma