Whittlesea CALD Communities Family Violence Research Report 2012 | Page 24

23 FINDINGS Consultations with service providers, women and community and religious leaders revealed a number of common themes regarding CALD women and family violence. A general consensus emerged from consultations that CALD women who are victims of family violence also experience additional complexities which increase their vulnerability and make it harder to access assistance and support. The complexities or ‘barriers’ that CALD women themselves identified were largely mirrored in the responses of service providers and the challenges they experience in providing services to CALD communities (refer to p.17 for a detailed description of the identified barriers). Consultations with Women Demographic Information Just under half of the women interviewed for the scoping exercise were engaged with the Arabic speaking women’s group run by Whittlesea Community Connections. Two case studies, from CALD women who had contacted service providers for assistance with family violence, have been included in these findings. The majority of women interviewed identified as coming from a Middle Eastern background. The women identified themselves as coming from the following countries of origin: ? ? ? ? ? Egypt Iraqi-born (from Assyrian/Chaldean, Arabic and Kurdish speaking backgrounds) Lebanon Syria India None of the women were born in Australia although half were now either Australian citizens or permanent residents. Most had originally migrated to Australia either as refugees, on spousal (either as the spouse of someone holding a refugee or student visa) or family reunion visas. Only two of the women came to Australia on a skilled migrant visa, both of whom migrated from India. The majority of the women consulted were Arabic speaking with varying levels of English proficiency. Just over half were able to speak English fluently while the others had little or no English. The women’s level of English language proficiency was not necessarily a reflection of how long they had been in Australia. Some of the women who were able to converse in English still felt more comfortable conducting the interview through an Arabic speaking interpreter. The women were of mixed ages and had been in Australia for varying lengths of time. Four had been in Australia for less than five years (the period of time ranging from six months to four years) and the rest had been in Australia for six years or more and up to thirty years. All but two of the women interviewed had children. Awareness/Understanding of family violence ‘I wouldn’t describe what I experienced as family violence it was more persecution, punishment and loneliness’