Breaking the silence: exploring the sociocultural context of domestic violence for Chinese migrant women in Australia

Abstract

Research examining the specificity of domestic violence (DV) for culturally and linguistically diverse women has grown considerably in Australia over the past several years; however, few studies have focused on the experiences of East Asian migrant victim-survivors of DV. This article reports on findings from an in-depth qualitative study and explores the perceptions of and responses to DV for Chinese migrant women from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The article shows that sociocultural and patriarchal values had an enduring impact on women’s experiences of and decision-making for DV. It also shows how cultural norms and practices connected to face (面子), family harmony (家庭和睦), family hierarchy (等級家庭制), and filial piety (孝) can be exploited by perpetrators and used against victim-survivors in the enactment of DV and coercive control. Findings highlight the importance of attending to the cultural specificity of DV for migrant women with a shared ethnicity, with policy and practice implications for the provision of support from both mainstream and multicultural services.