Standing
Graduate (PhD)
Type of Proposal
Oral Research Presentation
Faculty
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty Sponsor
Jane Ku
Proposal
This paper is motivated by the harm of domestic violence to East Asian women. Considering the multiple identities of this group, intersectionality is adopted as the theoretical framework. Based on an extensive literature review, the first part of the paper articulates three particular challenges associated with East Asian women’s ethnic, migratory, and gender identities, including myths of the model minority and “perpetual foreigners,” racialized sexism/sexualized racism, and Confucian patriarchy.
The second part explores how those unique challenges intersect to constitute disadvantages for East Asian women, rendering them vulnerable to domestic violence. First, unemployment and underemployment due to unrecognized foreign credentials, and discrimination based on the assumed problematic communication styles, leading to their financial insecurity. This makes it difficult for these women to leave their violent partners. Another barrier is to use the practices of the home country to deal with the current experience. This is because, on the one hand, the police and judiciary in where they come from may not regard domestic violence as serious, creating their mindset that it is useless to call the police; on the other hand, out of the concern for collective honor, the ethnic community may persuade them to make compromises, and those who refuse to cooperate may even be stigmatized. This emotional and social pressure makes East Asian women hesitant to leave their abusive partners in many cases. Finally, the paper ends with a summary of all the arguments, and also provides a prospect for future scholarship on related topics.
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East Asian Women’s Domestic Violence and Help-Seeking Experiences at the Intersection of Gender, Ethnic, and Migratory Disadvantages in Canada
This paper is motivated by the harm of domestic violence to East Asian women. Considering the multiple identities of this group, intersectionality is adopted as the theoretical framework. Based on an extensive literature review, the first part of the paper articulates three particular challenges associated with East Asian women’s ethnic, migratory, and gender identities, including myths of the model minority and “perpetual foreigners,” racialized sexism/sexualized racism, and Confucian patriarchy.
The second part explores how those unique challenges intersect to constitute disadvantages for East Asian women, rendering them vulnerable to domestic violence. First, unemployment and underemployment due to unrecognized foreign credentials, and discrimination based on the assumed problematic communication styles, leading to their financial insecurity. This makes it difficult for these women to leave their violent partners. Another barrier is to use the practices of the home country to deal with the current experience. This is because, on the one hand, the police and judiciary in where they come from may not regard domestic violence as serious, creating their mindset that it is useless to call the police; on the other hand, out of the concern for collective honor, the ethnic community may persuade them to make compromises, and those who refuse to cooperate may even be stigmatized. This emotional and social pressure makes East Asian women hesitant to leave their abusive partners in many cases. Finally, the paper ends with a summary of all the arguments, and also provides a prospect for future scholarship on related topics.