The Interplay Between Different Types of Violence and Their Impact on Refugee Women’s Mental Health

This post forms part of our series in showcasing abstracts of presentations featured at the 2019 Migration, Refugees and Statelessness conference, hosted in November 2019 at The University of Melbourne.

Jeanine Hourani – Gender and Women’s Health Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.

Background: Pre- and post-migration stressors can increase intimate partner violence (IPV) in refugee contexts. There is also an increased risk of mental ill-health among refugees, and this is gendered with refugee women being more at-risk. IPV can also lead to mental ill-health, compounding the risk of mental illness in refugee women. Refugee women face additional, specific barriers to accessing IPV and mental health services. Little is known about the intersection of IPV and mental ill-health from refugee women’s perspectives.

Aims: This research aimed to identify barriers to mental health and violence services experienced by Arabic-speaking refugee women; identify factors that support these women’s access to services and document the challenges faced by mental health service providers in supporting them.

Methods: This research took a qualitative approach. Data collection included 2 participatory workshops with refugee women, 6 in-depth interviews with refugee women, and 4 in-depth interviews with mental health service providers. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: My analysis reveals that normalisation of violence occurs throughout the refugee journey. In particular, post-migration stressors result in a loss of autonomy and control. Throughout the refugee journey, there is complex interplay between structural, symbolic and intimate partner violence. The interplay between different types of violence has a compounding impact on refugee mental health.

Discussion: The complex interplay between types of violence along the refugee journey, and their compounding impact on refugee women’s mental health suggest there needs to be more collaborative effort to collectively combat all forms of violence against refugee women.

Jeanine Hourani is a Research Assistant whose work focuses on refugee women’s experiences of violence. She also founded the ‘In My Own Words Program’ at Road to Refuge and is a Board Member of Olive Kids, an Australian charity dedicated to improving the lives of Palestinian children living under occupation.