Find evidence, practical ideas and fresh insight for greater impact

Go to library

Share research

Law & Justice
Oceania
Content
About this brief

Technology-Facilitated Domestic Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Qualitative Study

Brief about:

Journal Article (2021)

Paywalled link
Written by:
Other researchers:
Stefani Vasil, Asher Flynn, Karen Kellard, Colette Mortreux
PrintShare
Cite page
Henry, Nicola. 'Technology-Facilitated Domestic Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Qualitative Study'. Acume. https://www.acume.org/r/technology-facilitated-domestic-violence-against-immigrant-and-refugee-women-a-qualitative-study/

 Digital technologies are increasingly being used as tools for the perpetration of domestic violence. Little empirical research to date has explored the nature and impacts of technology-facilitated domestic violence, and even less attention has been paid to the experiences of immigrant and refugee women.

The aim of our research was to investigate the experiences and impacts of technology-facilitated domestic violence (TFDV) among immigrant and refugee women in Australia, and to understand the impact of TFDV, and to investigate women’s help-seeking pathways and sources of support.

 

Key findings

  1. We found that a woman’s immigrant or refugee status was often used by perpetrators in acts of domestic violence, including, for example, using digital means to create fear of deportation should the woman leave the relationship, or engaging in culturally specific humiliation, such as sending or threatening to send intimate or sexual images of a woman to her family, friends, or community.
  2. While many experiences reported to us were not dissimilar to those of non-immigrant and refugee women, immigrant and refugee women face unique challenges in seeking and accessing support, including knowing where to go for help.

Proposed action

  1. There are important policy implications that arise from this research

    A failure to acknowledge and accommodate the specific needs of immigrant and refugee women is an issue within the criminal justice system—from police responses to judicial decision-making. Cultural sensitivity and awareness are vital for equipping support services and the justice system in order to provide women with support and advice beyond translation and interpretation services.

  2. |Participants in our study suggested there needs to be better community awareness and education about online safety, support options for victim-survivors, and legislative options

    Support services need greater support and resources to deal with increasing reports of TFDV, which can be curated to respond to the unique experiences and needs of immigrant and refugee women, as well as other marginalised groups. Training, resources, and information also need to be translated into multiple languages, and information should be targeted at places where isolated immigrant and refugee women frequent, such as schools, supermarkets, health centres, settlement services, and through community radio.

  3. Stakeholders in our study strongly suggested that there needs to be an improvement in the capacity of support services to deal with TFDV, which includes further training for frontline workers; funding to tailor programs to address immigrant and refugee community needs, including hiring immigrant and refugee women in frontline support roles; and greater support to understand the applicability of laws

Comments

You must log in to ask a question
 

Acknowledgements

Are you a researcher looking to make a real-world impact? Join Acume and transform your research into a practical summary.

Already have an account? Log in
Share

Technology-Facilitated Domestic Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Qualitative Study

Cite this brief: Henry, Nicola. 'Technology-Facilitated Domestic Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Qualitative Study'. Acume. https://www.acume.org/r/technology-facilitated-domestic-violence-against-immigrant-and-refugee-women-a-qualitative-study/

Brief created by: Dr Nicola Henry | Year brief made: 2021

Original research:

  • S. V., Henry, N., & et al., ‘Technology-Facilitated Domestic Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Qualitative Study’ 37(13-14) (pp. 12634–12660) https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211001465. – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350042158_Technology-Facilitated_Domestic_Violence_Against_Immigrant_and_Refugee_Women_A_Qualitative_Study

Research brief:

Digital technologies are increasingly being used as tools for the perpetration of domestic violence. Little empirical research to date has explored the nature and impacts of technology-facilitated domestic violence, and even less attention has been paid to the experiences of immigrant and refugee women.

The aim of our research was to investigate the experiences and impacts of technology-facilitated domestic violence (TFDV) among immigrant and refugee women in Australia, and to understand the impact of TFDV, and to investigate women’s help-seeking pathways and sources of support.

Findings:

We found that a woman’s immigrant or refugee status was often used by perpetrators in acts of domestic violence, including, for example, using digital means to create fear of deportation should the woman leave the relationship, or engaging in culturally specific humiliation, such as sending or threatening to send intimate or sexual images of a woman to her family, friends, or community.

While many experiences reported to us were not dissimilar to those of non-immigrant and refugee women, immigrant and refugee women face unique challenges in seeking and accessing support, including knowing where to go for help.

Advice:

There are important policy implications that arise from this research

    • A failure to acknowledge and accommodate the specific needs of immigrant and refugee women is an issue within the criminal justice system—from police responses to judicial decision-making. Cultural sensitivity and awareness are vital for equipping support services and the justice system in order to provide women with support and advice beyond translation and interpretation services.

|Participants in our study suggested there needs to be better community awareness and education about online safety, support options for victim-survivors, and legislative options

    • Support services need greater support and resources to deal with increasing reports of TFDV, which can be curated to respond to the unique experiences and needs of immigrant and refugee women, as well as other marginalised groups. Training, resources, and information also need to be translated into multiple languages, and information should be targeted at places where isolated immigrant and refugee women frequent, such as schools, supermarkets, health centres, settlement services, and through community radio.

Stakeholders in our study strongly suggested that there needs to be an improvement in the capacity of support services to deal with TFDV, which includes further training for frontline workers; funding to tailor programs to address immigrant and refugee community needs, including hiring immigrant and refugee women in frontline support roles; and greater support to understand the applicability of laws

Peer Reviewed

"Technology-Facilitated Domestic Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Qualitative Study"

Cite paper

S. V., Henry, N., & et al., ‘Technology-Facilitated Domestic Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Qualitative Study’ 37(13-14) (pp. 12634–12660) https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211001465.

2021 · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · pp. 12634-12660Find full paper →DOI: 10.1177/08862605211001465
Co-authors
Stefani Vasil, Asher Flynn, Karen Kellard, Colette Mortreux
Methodology
This is a qualitative research.

With ethics approval, the research team conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 victim-survivors and 20 key stakeholders. Victim-survivor participants were recruited through multiple avenues, including advertisements on social media (e.g., Facebook, Gumtree, and Twitter), through victim support and advocacy stakeholder groups (e.g., domestic and family violence services), as well as on community and university noticeboards. Participants were required to be female, 18 years or older, from migrant background, and have experienced threats or abuse through technology, such as social media, phone/text, or sharing of private photos.

Participants were given the option of taking part in the research either by participating in a face-to-face interview, a telephone interview, or an online asynchronous discussion board, in which they logged in a time suitable to them to post comments or respond to text-based questions. Prior to the face-to-face and phone interviews, the project team ensured that participants were somewhere safe and private. For the online discussions, participants were able to provide their responses at any time on a secure platform with access via a unique password. At the conclusion of interviews, to acknowledge their contribution and/or compensate for any travel costs to attend the interview, victim-survivor participants received either $80 (AUD) for face-to-face interviews, $60 (AUD) for phone interviews, or $50 (AUD) for participation in online discussions.

All interviews were transcribed by an external specialist transcription agency, which were then anonymised. A single analytical framework was formulated from the discussion guide and an initial review of the interviews and discussion board data. Using this analytical framework, each data source was coded by the research team using Nvivo software to enable a thematic analysis of the data. The use of this thematic data coding technique ensured that the findings were directly traceable back to the raw data, thus providing a fully transparent analytical method.

One limitation was that our study undertook only a small number of interviews with victim-survivors and stakeholders to understand experiences, impacts, and help-seeking pathways. As such, our findings cannot be generalised or used to demonstrate the prevalence of TFDV among immigrant and refugee women more broadly. Moreover, we did not speak to women who spoke no or limited English, despite interpreters being available for those interviews. This meant that we did not capture the experiences of those women, who may be especially vulnerable.

Funding

This research was funded by the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner

Your research brief is live

It’s now visible on your profile and searchable by practitioners. Thank you for making your work accessible to decision-makers who need it

Close

Your research brief was updated

Changes are live now. 

Close

Your account is pending verification

We’ve been notified and will review it shortly. Once verified, it will be published and visible to practitioners.

We have this email on file: . If this isn’t your work email, update it to speed things up.

Update email

Your draft has been saved

Your draft has been saved. You can return to edit and publish it anytime from your dashboard.

Close

Thank you for subscribing!

We’d love to know who we will be talking to, could you take a moment to share a few more details?

Thanks for signing up!
If you haven’t already, create a free account to access expert insights and be part of a global effort to improve real-world decisions.

Get started

Close

For researchers

Turn your paper into a practical brief practitioners will read.

Sign up freeLearn more

For professionals

Explore free briefs, and book a call for deeper insights when you need them.

Talk with the teamLearn more