Objective: Spousal or partner abuse is the most frequent type of violence. This study compares physical, emotional and financial abuse between Canadian-born (CB) and Canadian immigrant (CI) women (arriving between 1990-1999). Method: this study used data from the 1999 General Social Survey, a national random digit dialing telephone-interview survey (response rate 81.3%). We compared the above two groups of married/common-law women between ages of 25-49 (CB=3548, CI=313). Results: similar proportions of physical abuse were found in women of two groups. However, more of CI women experienced emotional/financial abuse (CI: 14.7%, CB: 9.3%, X2=9.1, P=0.00); the subsequent results focus on emotional/financial abuse. CB women who were abused were more likely to have less than a university education (X2=12.2, P=0.00); annual household income less than $40,000 (X2=12.99, P=0.00); partner's with less than a university education (X2=11.8, P=0.00); and partners taking > 5 alcohol drinks on occasions during last month (mean occasions=2.3 versus 1, P=0.00). Also, CB abused women rated their physical health (scale of 5) lower than their counterparts (mean=3.7 versus 4.0, P=0.00). Interestingly, none of these factors differed statistically between abused and non-abused CI women. However, CI and CB abused women were alike in reporting statistically higher sleep problems and use of medication for sleep and depression compared to respective non-abused women. Conclusions: Future research should address what makes women vulnerable to emotional and financial abuse especially among recent immigrant populations.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Immigrant Women, Domestic Violence
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.