Analysing the experience of victim advocacy supporting South Asian domestic violence and abuse victims in the UK.
Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) affects many people in society, but some victims from minoritised backgrounds may incur additional difficulties in seeking support or justice. This is particularly true for victims of DVA who come from South Asian communities. Less is known about the experiences of South Asian DVA victims due to a trifecta of reasons: their limited engagement with services, a paucity of available data, and a lack of robust academic literature focusing of DVA and South Asian victims. To begin addressing this, specialist ‘by and for’ services and advocates have sought to offer services to minoritized communities in culturally specific ways. This research explores the specificities of DVA for South Asian victims through engagement with these specialist victim advocates who play a vital role in supporting minoritized victims.
Specialist victim advocates can shed important light on South Asian victims’ rationales for, and experiences of, engagement with support services. Victim advocates are best placed to illustrate the complexities faced by South Asian victims seeking to access other types of services - such as criminal justice, social services, healthcare services. This research will employ a largely qualitative approach, in the way of interviews, to truly ascertain opinions and views of victim advocates. By researching specialist victim advocacy services aimed at assisting South Asian DVA victims, this research will uncover valuable knowledge about best practice in the support for South Asian DVA victims while indicating the limitations and barriers facing those victims who struggle to access or engage with such support.