BJSW Advance Access originally published online on October 3, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2006 36(8):1361-1377; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch309
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Cultural Barriers to the Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse in Asian Communities: Listening to What Women Say
Philip Gilligan (MA, BA, CQSW, PTA) is a lecturer in social work at the University of Bradford. He was, until August 2004, co-ordinator of FSU Bradford’s Alma Street Project for children and young people who have been sexually abused. His research interests include the evaluation of services for children and young people who have been sexually abused and the development of culturally competent practice in social work. He is white.
Shamim Akhtar (BA) is the co-ordinator of Project Jyoti at Bradford Rape Crisis and a worker with FSU Bradford’s Alma Street Project. She is fluent in Urdu/Punjabi and English. She conducted most of the consultations discussed and advised Philip on relevant aspects of Asian culture and religion. She is Asian.
Correspondence to Philip Gilligan, Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK. E-mail: p.a.gilligan{at}bradford.ac.uk
There is apparent under-reporting of child sexual abuse in Britain’s Asian communities and a varied capacity amongst professionals to respond with cultural competence. Professional approaches originate in cultural contexts, which are often different from those of most British Asians. If the proportion of children and non-abusing carers from Asian communities who access relevant services is to increase, professionals need to develop better understandings of cultural imperatives which determine behaviour in those communities. Consultations with Asian women in Bradford reinforce the view that culturally competent practice and respectful dialogue are essential to the protection of children. They also highlight a number of recurring themes. Members of Asian communities are aware of child sexual abuse, they recognize that the issue needs to be addressed by all communities and they report that many of those affected within their own communities have found it difficult to access relevant services. These consultations, like reports of similar work elsewhere, indicate that difficulties, which appear to arise from Asian women’s fears about how agencies will respond, are frequently compounded by the impact of cultural imperatives arising from izzat (honour/respect), haya (modesty) and sharam (shame/embarrassment), which have a considerable influence on how many will behave.
Keywords: Sexual abuse, Asian communities, Bradford, cultural competence, izzat
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