A Scoping Review on Intimate Partner Violence in Canada’s Immigrant Communities

Abstract

Canada relies on newcomers for population growth, labor supply, and cultural diversity. Newcomers, in turn, see Canada as a haven of economic opportunities. However, the extent to which these mutual benefits can be realized depends on how well newcomers fare in Canada. Intimate partner violence (IPV) significantly undermines immigrants’ capacity to rebuild their lives in host societies. As in other Western democracies, recent immigrants and refugees to Canada are highly vulnerable to IPV; they arrive with limited support systems, wrestle with changing family dynamics, and may have to adapt to new gender roles. IPV often occurs in the private domain of the family and poses serious risks to women, children, families, and the broader society. Our scoping review of 30 articles on IPV within Canadian immigrant groups identifies crucial differences in perceptions and experiences of, responses to, and coping mechanisms among female survivors, and a tendency to place the blame for IPV on the cultural values and practices that immigrants bring to Canada. The majority of existing services and policies, our review shows, are not well suited to immigrant women’s needs and may undermine women’s capacity to find satisfying solutions. Our review is limited by a dearth of literature; it is based mainly on the experiences of South East Asian immigrant women in the Greater Toronto Area. Our findings suggest that future research should address women’s and men’s experiences of IPV, include nonheterosexual couples, extend to the broader immigrant population, and incorporate the voices of stakeholders other than survivors.