The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #61580

Meiling Wang, PhD, MPH and Theresa Pham, student. Social Sciences, USIP, 524 south 45th Street, philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-895-1155, meilingwang49@hotmail.com

Issue: The lack of legal documentation of domestic violence incidence in the APIA community has become a major concern among the APIA public health professionals. There are certain cultural, socioeconomic, and communication factors associated with the phenomenon of underreporting of domestic violence among APIAs. The purpose of this project was to analyze the factors explaining underreporting, report methods of outreaching into the APIA domestic violence population, and outline culturally sensitive prevention and intervention programs that address the health care needs of the APIA domestic violence victims.

Method: This project applied an in-depth qualitative and quantitative study of a group of APIA domestic violence victims residing on the East Coast of the United States.

Results and Lessons Learned: First, there are culturally relevant factors explaining underreporting of domestic violence in the APIA community, which include: “fear of the legal authorities,” “socioeconomic determinants,” “fear of loss of positive face in the community,” “fatalism.” “the feeling of shame,” “lack of assertiveness in communication,” “over-concern for harmony in interpersonal relationships,” and “fear of losing familial integrity.” Second, outreach effort needs to apply “unconventional methods” at multi-levels. Third, culturally sensitive programs for this population require an understanding of the socioeconomic and gender dynamic, and communication equilibrium in the APIA interpersonal context.

Learning Objectives:

The APIA domestic violence victims have been under-served because of the difficulty in reaching this population. The purpose of this project is to
• learn the culturally relevant factors underlying underreporting of domestic violence in the APIA community.
• generating innovative outreach methods into this population,
• create culturally sensitive programs that address the needs of the APIA domestic violence victims.

Keywords: Asian and Pacific Islander Women, Domestic Violence

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.