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Chapter 12 - Collaborating with Refugee Families on Dynamics of Intra-family Violence

from Part II - Trauma Care for Refugee Families

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2020

By
Kjerstin Almqvist
Edited by
Lucia De Haene  and
Cécile Rousseau
Lucia De Haene
Affiliation:
University of Leuven, Belgium
Cécile Rousseau
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
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Summary

Intimate Partner violence (IPV) is a global major public health problem, exposing women and children to adverse health outcomes. Refugee families are particularly at risk for IPV, a consequence of previous exposure to organized violence as well as migration stress and lack of societal protection. Refugee families from societies with traditional and patriarchal values resettling in secular societies cherishing gender equality and children’s rights face a challenge when women and children adjust to new ideals more rapidly than the men do. It is important to address that migration stress may cause or increase conflicts in the family and learn to handle conflicts in close relationships without violence. Health care procedures developed to recognize women exposed to IPV in general, such as screening for IPV in maternal care and child health care, need to be available for immigrants and refugee women. In the chapter, a case vignette illustrates how clinicians can work to unveil domestic violence and wartime trauma in refugee families and find ways to support a child exposed to both through collaboration with the parents.

Keywords

Domestic violenceintimate partner violenceacculturationexileinterventions
Type
Chapter
Information
Working with Refugee Families
Trauma and Exile in Family Relationships
 , pp. 200 - 211
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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