Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Email: lata deakin. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4. For victim-survivors of intimate partner violence IPV , receiving help from formal services such as specialist family violence, health, or criminal justice services can be critical for their safety and well-being.
Previous research has found cross-cultural differences in the rates of help-seeking behavior, with women from non-Anglo-Saxon communities less likely to seek formal help than Anglo-Saxon populations. This qualitative meta-synthesis has integrated qualitative evidence to examine the relationship between specific cultural norms and formal service engagement for female victim-survivors of IPV from non-Anglo-Saxon communities.
A comprehensive search of seven databases was conducted for peer-reviewed articles published between to May , in addition to searching gray literature. Thirty-five articles met the criteria for inclusion, representing 1, participants from 20 cultural groups.
Based on a thematic synthesis approach, five key themes that captured specific cultural norms that influence formal service engagement were identified: 1 gender roles and social expectations, 2 community recognition and acceptance of abuse, 3 honor-based society, 4 the role of religion, and 5 cultural beliefs and attitudes toward formal services.
These findings have important implications for responses to family violence, particularly concerning family violence education for non-Anglo-Saxon ethnically diverse communities and best-practice strategies to improve the cultural relevancy of formal service providers. Keywords: intimate partner violence, violence against women, cultural norms, service engagement, help-seeking, formal services, family violence, domestic violence. Intimate partner violence IPV refers to a set of behaviors conducted by a former or current intimate partner that cause physical, sexual, or psychological harm and is one of the most common forms of violence against women World Health Organization [WHO], Help-seeking strategies are commonly grouped into either informal or formal sources of support Cho et al.
