Exploratory Qualitative Research Project for Arab American Family Services:Vulnerable Female Immigrant Populations grounded in Critical Feminism.

By Candace Metcalf,Applied Sociology Graduate Student

Sam Houston State UniversityQualitative Research

Spring 2015

Introduction

Community Backstory

The Village of Bridgeview Illinois situated in southwest Chicagoland has in the past 60 years

grown a massive immigrant and refugee population. Boiling over from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

The residence of southwest Chicagoland now accommodates around 100,000-200,000 roughly

approximately Arab Refugees/Immigrants from hearth of Arabia. Of which is a rough estimate, given

that there was 75,000 Palestinians in South West Chicagoland by 1995 and the population tripled since

1980. (Arab America) Confusion on the classification of identification in identifying race with research

methods has caused this number to be underreported due to classifying Arabs as white. Including the

majority stemming from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria. And also including a number of

unknown refugees/immigrants from Iraq after the Iraq war. The population has increased some

estimates as much as 47% since 2001. (Pew Research) According to the Census the Arab population

estimates as 1,189, 731 as of 2000. (Census, 2003) The American Community Survey by the Census for

2006 to 2010 states the Arab population in the United States has had a 76% increase since 1990 which

estimates the population is now around 1,500,000 approximately. (American Community Survey, 2013)

It is penetrable that there is a movement of immigration from the hearth to the United States, based on

marriage, and family visas. Probably one of the largest and fastest growing in the country. Bridgeview

being one of the densest Arab populations inside the United States and one of the densest Palestinian

populations inside the United States.

Along with bringing an immigration movement, they also brought cultural and political

movements they had back home. That being the cultural identity of religion, dress, and social norms that

present a real clash between American laws and values. And they brought with them the Palestinian

resistance movement. As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for a good 60 years now the

resistance movement has spread to promote the Palestinian side of the conflict around the world by

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gaining those sympathizers in mainstream communities around the world. But nowhere is the resistant

movement more alive and thriving than in southwest Chicago in the village of Bridgeview. Among the

community of Arabs that reside in the area it is an apparent issue they retain their cultural identity,

religion, social norms in defiance and in resistance to American culture by refusing to have children go to

public schools, by building their own private institutions to educate their children, by adopting and

subscribing to the strict codes of Islamic fundamentalism, and subjecting women to extreme gendered

cultural and religious norms. The community centers are extremely homogenous, none welcoming and

very rigid to outsiders unless they subscribe to their cultural identity including their ‘gendered’ norms

and religious fundamentalism. All of which is a part of the resistance movement and an attempt to keep

their community identity. It would be also sufficient to nick name this Arab Village located in Bridgeview

“Potemkin Village” as despite everything they want to place a façade of happiness. This Arab village has

a disdain for authority and is established on a male hierarchy and patriarchy to rule over women, where

women move as figure of silence in the community.

The Project

The purpose of this research initially looks at the growing need for housing and tries to

understand the needs of the homeless Arab Women of Domestic Violence in the area. Arab American

Family Services an agency located in Bridgeview that creates programs to help the social welfare needs

of those in the area believes there is a need for housing initiatives and programs for these women

escaping domestic violence. As the community grows, there is a growing need to help women of

domestic violence. However, parameters are unknown and no research has previously been done on the

matter; this research explores the issue on a deeper level by using qualitative research methods. The

following research questions explored to conduct this research are as follows; “What are the emergency

housing needs of the Arab American female refugee and immigrant population in Chicago?” “What

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program expectations do these women have for programs to help them?” Then the following final

question developed from these questions is; “How does understanding culture and identity help Arab

women of Domestic Violence?”

Conceptual Framework

Sociologically this research is important because women have suffered from inequality and are

historically at a disadvantage. Immigrant women are at a greater risk of being forced to stay in unideal

situations due to language barriers, lack of resources, and lack of support that is catered to their

cultural/religious needs. They face more obstacles such as in needs of skills training, social welfare

support, as well as additional philanthropic sources to overcome this problem. Women coming from

other cultural/religious backgrounds from developing nations into a developed nation are accustomed

to third world mentality and are less likely to seek assistance. The religious and cultural communities

here in Chicago retain customs of third world mentality in dealing with issues. Women are often shamed

into silence and forced to put up with abuse and neglect.

Sociologically gender inequality has always been a topic of interest to sociologist. And this

research will help to understand the dynamics between women’s personal liberty and mobility as an

immigrant or minority from a predominantly immigrant and refugee community living in the United

States. Thus this research is grounded in Critical Feminist Theory. The conceptual framework guiding

the initial research tells the narrative of Arab immigrant women living in this area in Chicago and the

story of their lives according to gender inequality and specific gender role criteria for their roles. The

narrative themes that dominate their lives. The condition they live in from cultural, religious, gender

specific, and location specific framework. Below is the final conceptual framework for better

understanding. The criteria in bold are major themes for immigrant Arab women of domestic violence.

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Methodology

Qualitative research methods where employed in this research to try to understand the problem

on a deeper level because parameters are unknown for the problem “homelessness among Arab

immigrant women.” Also research is specific to these people and location; hence, it is unlikely there is

existing data since this is a fairly new and emerging problem in this community. For the purpose of

breaking into this topic qualitative methods where used to understand the problem better. Two

interviews were employed with Domestic Violence advocates who work directly with this population,

whom are intimately acquainted with the Arab women of domestic violence. In addition to interviews

the method of triangulation was used to better answer the research questions. A focus group was

employed to understand immigrant Arab men’s perspectives on the topic in order to explore the male

narrative. And one observation of Arab women in a public space to observe their behavior in public life.

Data collection by field observation of women in public spaces in this community were used. And a focus

group with first generation immigrant men.

Methods of framing the research design and instruments include the following concepts. Since

this research is grounded in critical feminist theory the spectrum includes the focus of critical

ethnography where the research design focuses on social inequality and efforts to making positive

changes. (Lune) pg. 206. The aims of this research is to challenge the status of women by understanding

the problem better and how they might suggest solutions. With the concept of action research looking

at what the people of this community can do to take actions or steps towards resolving the problem.

“There are three phases of action research. Looking, thinking, and action.” (Lune) pg. 263. The following

criteria include the framework for the instrumentation. For the purpose of protecting subjects from

harm, all subjects use alternative names’ and all identifiable information was restricted in the collection

process. The selection criteria for the target subjects for this research is listed below with how coding

was developed.

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Instrumentation Criteria

1. Interview- 2 R’s Advocates of Domestic Violence victims who work with refugee immigrant

women in a domestic abuse situation. And/or works closely to this population on a regular basis

that is familiar with problems faced.

2. Sociogram-Measurement of sociometry, measuring social distance of individuals to involvement

with institutions. Formally how this target population interacts with them, it can be negative and

positive. This will be part of the interviews sessions in order to exam women’s relationship to

institutions.

3. Use of metaphors- such as e.g. an “iron cage used by Weber’s depiction of bureaucracy.” (Lune)

Pg. 248.

4. Focus Group with a small group of men in the immigrant Arab community.

5. Field Observation of a local public space used by women “community grocery” where people in

this community frequently shop.

Respondent’s

Interviews: Two Domestic Violence Advocates that work closely with the target population “Arab

Women of Domestic Violence.” These advocates work closely in a setting with these women on an

ongoing basis.

Focus Group: Immigrant Arab men in the community. These Arab men come from this community

and come from the same background as the overall community of Arab immigrants.

Field Observation: Arab Women. Arab women that are visible in observation clearly by ethnicity

and/or in cultural/religious dress.

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Data

Data collected from these qualitative methods helped to form the codes from the initial two

interview instruments findings and revised with additional data with the other instruments used.

However, for the scope of this research it wouldn’t be possible to cover all the data results, themes,

codes that present in the information for analysis, but can be revisited later on. The main themes

were the ones selected for analysis in order to answer the research questions. The coding scheme is

posted with definition and rules as follows with examples of excerpts from the data findings.

Coding Scheme

Code Definition Rules Examples First Generation

Arabs vs Immigrants.

Politics POLAction or reference to politics

Reference of political nature of social interaction, interacting with people, other persons, family, institutions

Can be gender politics, identity politics, access to institutions, or political statements

“Housing is an issue because we are not considered white.”

“Migrating to USA people have the perception women are free to work.”

Consequences CON

Any consequence of person’s specific location.

This concept deals with feminist theory in that it is a statement there is some consequences to inequality and they are specific to those persons. Any consequence from being a person in this place in society.

e.g. “women are labeled as divorced or separated”

“She often has to stays with her abuser.”

“Pressured to get married.”

“married very young”

“lack skills”

E.g. “If she is undocumented you can close every door, she can’t get social services. If she is documented I send her to DHS, she may not be able to speak English, and language is a barrier”

Mobility MOB

Any concept impacting mobility in society.

This deals with inequality as well, and deals with a person’s ability to move into different parts of society. Can be anything that impacts mobility.

e.g. “language”

“babysitting”

“no family”

“no transportation”

“undocumented”

e.g. “They need skills training, language, needs a job she can get to work out with kids, skills, major problems are women are not documented and babysitting is an issue.”

Barriers BAR Any barriers to change.

Barriers is almost like consequences except that, barriers prevents changes all together. It is a similar idea but different in functionality. I want to identify not the consequence of the location specific of this demographic but in this code the barriers to change. Any barriers to change applies.

e.g. “funding for programs”

“religion navigates”

“regulations that match their needs”

“program requirements”

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“her way out”

Culture CUL

Anything that entails culture behaviors and norms.

This concept deals with cultural theory. These people have a specific culture that is unique to them and it is a part of their story. Without acknowledging it, we would miss a large component of their specific story.

e.g. “to be identified as Arab”

“to be shamed or stigmatized”

“married very young’

“Women have to have certain jobs.”

“polygamous marriage”

Negotiations NEGAnything that implies social negotiations

Negotiations is how people interact with others in society. Based on interaction theory. It is important to understand how these people in this specific location of society are interacting “negotiating” terms. Either to get help or to make changes. For any aspect of negotiations.

e.g. “in realizing their identity”

“worries about what people think”

“3aeb is a theme in the Arab community, it’s a black cloud over the community.”

“undocumented working in cash paying jobs”

“I could feed my kids on $200 dollars a month, and sell my food stamps, and pay my rent, I understand”

Gender GENAnything dealing with the female gender.

Anything that deals with the concept of the female gender. And the division of labor.

Working “it” itself is a challenge, women have to have certain jobs, women when leaving her abuser sometimes goes back to her family, she won’t take a job where she works overnight, evenings or late. Not to be out at night. Because it is 3aeb

Tribalism TRI Anything that implies tribal

behaviors.

The concept of tribalism is one in which how some cultures negotiate

terms with others in society. Informal legal systems.

“families work out problem”

“Families negotiate”

These codes helped to guide the analyses process; in order to evaluate the data and evaluate

excerpts in the data collected. The codes were developed to explain the information in a variety of ways

because many of the items are explained by more than one variable.

Coding Analysis

Three main codes were identified for the focus of this research and are as listed; Tribalism,

Negotiations and Gender. This research is very broad, for the purpose of this research to narrow the

scope three primary codes for this data. All of these codes where developed from the data. Tribalism

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based on the social laws, norms, culture are based in tribalism. Negotiations based on the problem

women of Domestic Violence is one that is situational and they are negotiating relationship outcomes

based on their interactions. Gender the conceptual framework is rooted in feminist theory. The aim of

the research in the frame of gender inequality.

Analysis 1

Social Laws-Tribalism, Negotiations, & Division of Labor-Gender

Memo 1 Data set #1 Elissa 2-24-15

Main Research Q: “How does understanding culture and identity help Arab women of Domestic

Violence?”

Tribalism Negotiations GenderFeels they still have the back home mentality here in the USA

People born here know there are options to them, people who migrated here are afraid to explore the options.”

people migrating to USA have the perception women are free to work

I suggested she call police and she was taken back because she was worried about what people would think, and I thought he was going to kill her.”

Women will actually stay home with her abuser, because she doesn’t want to be labeled as divorced or separated. She worries what the people will think. The woman say this is “3aeb”

Their entire life has been dictated to them, what their goals are.

3aeb, is a theme and it is very common amongst the Arab community, even here in the USA it is like a black cloud hanging over the community.”

Housing is an issue for these women because they are considered white Working “it” itself is a challenge, women have to

have certain jobs, women when leaving her abuser sometimes goes back to her family, she won’t take a job where she works overnight, evenings or late. Not to be out at night. Because it is 3aeb

Women go into survival mode, women think ‘Family’ first. If they [implied family] don’t agree with her leaving her ex-husband the family will abuse her.

and then the only way for her to be selected for transitional housing… What does that mean? I did work in a transitional housing program before. It means. You need a job with check stubs. Women don’t ever get into transitional housing programs, this creates cultural barriers, and many of these women are undocumented and they only have visas and if they are working it’s a cash paying job. Then shelters select participants from their own list. We don’t have a program and these women are not on their lists.”

Says yes that is the problem. Many women will turn to prostitution. And many women will sell their food stamps. I had a disagreement with someone who is against it recently, and I understand it, because if I could feed my kids on $200 dollars a month, and sell my food stamps, and pay my rent; I understand, it is survival mode.”

Women are so focused for thinking about now in survival mode, until they get comfortable, then the culture stigma comes back, with pressure to marry. Constantly pressured to get married.

A common question these women ask, is can the government give me housing? The options are they can get on a waiting list, but they need to have a job to get into housing programs,

Every girl and boy [pause] pressure is put on girls to grow up and get married, to cook, keep up with the house. If you’re not in school you should be married for American Arabs. Immigrant women a common theme is she is married very young by age 17, it’s not unusual for immigrant women to be married at 13 or 14, they don’t feel forced, and they just felt it was the right thing to do. They feel it’s their choice. It’s expected so they get married. Some girls get married to escape family, they think marriage is a ticket to freedom.”

A lady was in a relationship with a man with another wife, a polygamous marriage. He and his other wife was abusive towards her, and she had a lot of children with him. Her way out of the

We need funding for programs and staff to meet the needs of the Arab population, we are not white. It’s important to be identified as Arab we are not white and we do not have the same

Immigrant women are dependent a lot. On family, husbands, neighbors,

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situation is to find someone who will marry her. resources or privileges. When Arabs first came to America they fought to be identified as white, to fit in. But now we have these issue we do not have the same resources or privileges.”

From my experience they limit themselves because they worry about what everyone else is saying. Because she has a label of being divorced. [Gestures with hands in bad or negative way, negative tone of voice] →→ they become the label. So they are what everyone says they are.”

Second needing more resources, for survival in general. Housing and employment in general are the most challenging issue to deal with this target population

major problems are women are not documented and babysitting is an issue.

they were told ‘ustoro3 halkoum,’ by those at the mosque, which translates into, meaning, cover yourself, meaning, what your doing is shameful, and do not be shameful. They help and hinder at the same time. When seeking help they say, ‘you leave your homes, you divorce your husbands, and now you come to me expecting me to support you

If she is undocumented you can close every door, she can’t get social services. If she is documented I send her to DHS, she may not be able to speak English, and language is a barrier. She will get benefits funding. The biggest issue these women face is housing. Housing funding is a big issue.”

If family disowns her and she works and needs a relative to babysit, if family disowns her she will lose her job and everything will snowball from there. If she had a babysitter she could have a stable life. Babysitting is a big deal, she has to wait 2 months to get assistance for child care.

She will go to other agencies and she will try to go to the mosque in the beginning, so religion navigates, women they follow what the religion tells them to do they go to the mosque and the sheik [means preacher], to seek guidance on the issue.”

a lady she left 6 or 7 times after the family finally told her to leave him.

She needs to accept that she is on her own and she needs to rely on herself, I tell clients to set goals and work towards them and achieve them

Family does not want divorce especially if she has kids, They need community support, she doesn’t

need to be turned away at the mosque, she needs social support, not to be shamed or stigmatized←←divorced women, child care, there needs to be housing for this target population, with regulations that match their needs.”

We need to have social changes, be willing to accept that our women have to work in jobs that they have not worked before, for example working overnight at a Mars Candy Factory. We have to change as a community

Families will disown women for leaving. If she does, she will have no support system. Her whole system is gone. No community, no family. It is not unusual.

Memo 2 Data set #2 Julie 3-4-15

Research Q: “How does understanding culture and identity help Arab women of Domestic Violence?”

Tribalism Negotiations Genderthe way they reason, the way people logic things, things people logic things in the Arab world verses how they logic and reason them over here [indicating being in USA] for example being on time, and the law, the laws of the country, over here, …the penalty’s, consequences of things, it’s not understood to immigrants, immigrants don’t have concept of that. Because in the old countries, if you are, if you have a run in with the law, there are tribal things that can get you out, it’s not the law, is not the only measure,

Language, culture, it can go both ways, our women’s understanding, or lack of understanding of the rules and responsibilities or providers, one thing, and not understanding the laws, that would add up to their fears, of the interpreter, or abuser, like not knowing, like this women she just called me she is anxious, she finally made the move to go to the shelter, she now doesn’t know what to expect so I have to repeat it again and again, to calm her down to wait, and they want it now, change has to happen, they don’t know they have to wait a little bit, to get what they want they have to suffer a little bit, to get where they wanted, because for most Arab women, I don’t like generalization, these women they come, these women were sheltered, they are sheltered, they were protected, they never made decisions, the not used to making decisions, now they have to take risks, and they not used to making decisions or taking risks. So it really creates anxiety for them.

Most of our women sign off their possessions and children to their husbands they are not knowing what they signed, it’s our biggest hurdle, you know?

, if you have a car accident, it’s not the law that is going to resolve the issue, or insurance companies, it’s going to be the two families getting together to decide what is the loss, even if he is in jail, the people holding him in jail, he is in jail for his safety, so he wouldn’t be killed in the process,

another challenge is when they don’t make a decision, after all, when she goes back to her abuser, after all, it’s a challenge for all advocates, that when she goes back to her abuser, you have to assure her that she can come back to you for help again, you don’t get mad or frustrated,

, they trust and before they divorce the women, they change their business and everything into their brothers or siblings names, so she wont get anything in the divorce, so the men know how to safeguard themselves against the women, the women trusting everything not

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not because he committed a crime. knowing what they sign for.

You know, it didn’t makes sense why if I do something wrong, it has to be it has to bring shame to the whole family, and why the family has to be ashamed of me

It’s not your decision, it’s not about you it’s about her, she knows, You know she knows maybe this is not the right time for her to leave, so.. You know what I mean, these are the kinds of..

so it is difficult finding a job, it’s a big huge thing, like it’s hard, how is she going to move on her own and becoming independent and on her own, is she is not working, the needs basically are we need housing, employment, programs to help with skills.

And we have like women, like every culture has their own way of abusing women like, it all falls under financial abuse. You know the other cultures, practice financial abuse, but this is what they do in our culture, so she doesn’t have anything in her name so she won’t get anything. If he has a business he will put it into his brother’s name.

, when she married him islamicly, she put conditions for him to, not to marry another women, for him to marry, he has to get a divorce decree from here, if he is to marry islamicly again here he needs a legal divorcee from the court to show that he is divorced, because polygamy is not allowed here but he can go to the black, he can go to the old country, in the old country now, he has to bring, she can show the decree she made the condition, if he marries another women in the old country he can’t or he has to pay her the dowry, because on her contract it says on the marriage contract he says not to marry another women. He can marry another women but there is consequences to his marriage.

, so this is what I hope that our women can do that here, they may not have be educated but they have wonderful skills and they make other crafts, we need to enhance their skills and make it work for them, this is how I see a solution to a problem, they may make the most wonderful cheese or lehbina[Arabic yogart].

in Arab culture, they take the children, and send them to the old country, they abduct the children, the husbands you know, this is our biggest safety talk about and hurdle, we talk about how to prevent the husband from abducting the children, this is a big deal, each culture has a pattern, this is a pattern in our culture, abducting the children and taking them to the old country

they come for food stamps and medical card, usually this is the biggest need, my women like DV women, send them to apply for cash assistance because husband is not paying for anything and he left and she doesn’t have a job, these women are low skilled, most of them, they don’t speak English

if she was first generation born here, sheltered, didn’t finish school, married young, family hovering, even with all of that,

so then when she called Jordan they told her if she divorces him here, it will count as an Islamic divorce, so she would lose her dowry she agreed on in the Islamic…[ marriage], so it became a conflict between Islamic marriage and legal marriage.

we are talking about immigrant verses first generation, even though we seek first generation depending on education level, too there are different factors here, if she is educated and she knows English very well, she is born in the system she can express herself, she goes on her on, you know if she is sheltered

It is. You have to be patient with him, he will come around, you’re not trying hard enough, they come to her, so and they minimize the abuse, so you have the abuser and you have the community response, so what you going to do, you are going to end up in the street , and who’s going to help you, whos going to feed, why don’t you take the children and go to the old country, and he can send you money, so they offer all these solutions that would not be acceptable to women born here.

In general there is an issue on the religious institution, I don’t want to say the mosque or the church, because the clergy don’t want to come across like they are breaking homes, you know, so,

And working with the whole condition with the whole state of the family, to make sure they have the food stamps the medical card, so they are not going to be evicted, we also help them to find jobs, when we can we are not an employment agency, but uggh, the community seeking employment, call us and we say we are hiring so we say go see this person. You know, I know my coworkers help others build their resumes.

he takes all the money and he gambles it, you know he is not paying rent, he has the link card [foodstamps] on him, he is controlling every financial aspect of the house, punches the walls, frightens the kids,

They try to mediate them, they want to make, and they want to mend them together. Not to break them. [not to break up marriages/families]

So basically they just left her, left her stranded. You know what I mean, so in this case she has to make serious decisions, and she was not able to make decisions, she was not ready to make serious decisions, like in leaving him, oh ah, because you’re not going to leave him, you’re not patient enough,

the poor thing she is not only not supported she is also blamed for the situation as if it is her fault,

like is there a different frame of mind for the generation first generation of Arabs that are here and immigrant Arabs mentality, from the culture in terms of matters of faith, in terms of matters of faith, they want to to ughh, keep the families together, not be perceived as breaking up the family that’s why I am asking.

have I have a case, her family went against her, even her mom and she had an order of protection against them too, a, at the same time and they hosted the husband in their house, imagine when you mom goes against you it’s the most horrific feeling, she was determined and she moved herself in a safe situation, is back to work and is on her feet, like there is a level where they reach were enough is enough for them, this girl is first generation.

she was crying on the phone because she had an eviction notice, she can’t pay rent. I said listen listen, I said He has to resolve the issue, the housing is his problem not yours so why are you getting anxious for, so he ended up renting another place, and the situation was resolved, but how long is it going to last, its not stable, you know what I mean.

Yes it is, they don’t know how, when we talk about understanding the law or responsibility, this is a big thing, you don’t know what to do here,

The one she was able to break off from her family, her family was in a way abusing her too, she was forcing her to stay in this marriage, that is abusive,

We are seeing young retarded women, they are developmentally, with low iq, and they take them and marry them, and they leave them to manage a

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they don’t understand the system, they think if they send him to the old country maybe his uncle, will be firm with him for a month two, like disciplining him,

she stood up for herself, family approval is a big deal, family approval is a big deal, they want their families approval, you know some of them are supportive, I don’t want to say all of them are not supportive but some of them are supported by family.

house and children and they don’t even manage themselves. This is a big thing of culture verses religion. This is a big issue

Shame in our culture is like, the women have this heavy mountain on their shoulders where they carry the reputation of the family on her shoulders, they carry the reputation of their daughters, the women as if, of she the betrays her marriage she betrays her husband in terms of even if she divorces him, people will look down on her and her daughters, they will think, they will start thinking like she is playing around or fooling around, her daughters will not be disciplined or raised well. So that is a big huge load on the women’s, to think what they are going to think of me and my daughters, the boys are off the hook usually.

: living with other people, yes a lot, this women who called me I took her number she came from California, she basically was prisoned, and when he left to the old country for 2 weeks, her friends helped her ran away with her friends to Chicago, she had to apply for VAWA because he didn’t apply for immigration status for her, so now she is with her friends and she needs a job and a house, and her the thing her friends live in a very remote area, not close to any community, so I was trying to direct her to find a job, and then we can find an apartment for her, but there is no resources for her, there is not much resources for her,

she will be under the microscope, like will be like watching, say she is talking to now, one of my clients her family in Jordan, people are telling them that she is like basically selling herself, and she really been working hard, it’s like the idea of a women to be on her own, is like.. And that makes her a pray, men will approach her because they think they can get away with it. Instead of supporting her, they think since this women is on her own I have a chance with this women. So it’s a very struggling for women.

they think a divorced women is like a free women, that they can approach and make advanced, so they are tested that way they test them.

we have women who went to the shelter who couldn’t stand it and left and went back to their abuser, we have that happen, just they couldn’t leave the comfort of their home,

First generation can move on faster to solve their problems, they are born in this system. They know how to find a job, they know how to drive, and they know transportation how to use transportation, so basically, it’s easier for them to move in and move out of the situation and be independent, whereas immigrant women it’s a hurdle, they don’t drive, they don’t have social security, they don’t have immigration status, they can’t find jobs, we have to Work our way with VAWA, and establish all of that, they don’t speak English, so limited opportunity, very limited opportunity, for immigrant women versus first generation, there is more opportunity for first generation

Both financially and they freak out being on their own, they don’t know what to do, we had a case like this, she went back because, they identify their self as moms first so they put their kids needs before hers,

Data set #3 Shop and Save 3/17/15 11:30Am

Research Q: “How does understanding culture and identity help Arab women of Domestic Violence?”

Tribalism Negotiations GenderThe abaya is dark in color and it almost completely covers her feet.

I see one lady near the bread talking on the phone and wearing blue jeans

I walk around to see what she is up to and she is talking and looking at a display of cakes and walks back and pushes the door open to go into the bakery. [This is the first time I seen a lady in a headscarf working in this store, it must be because I normally shop in the evening.] I see that she must be working here. She is also wearing make-up very lightly. She closes the door still talking on the phone.

I look her up and down, wearing a white headscarf pinned under the chin, it bows out in the front, she is not wearing any make up, and she has a long coat on called an abaya. [It looks much like a trench coat.]

The women appear to be distant from others. Not going close to them. Not engaging with them.

at around 12:00pm the doors start flooding with around 5 to 15 different Arab women in light colored scarves

see Arab women dressed from head to toe headscarves.

They don’t appear to smile just blank expressions. I see a lady with a headscarf, who appears to be Arab, she is wrestling with two children messing

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around in the back of a grocery cart while she looks at olives.

She is wearing pants and jacket that goes down over her bum. Her cloths are lose fit and you cannot see any shape. Again her scarf is whitish and her clothing dark.

They don’t appear to know the other women in the store that are dressed like them. I do not see anyone recognizing the others in anyway, nor do they say anything.

There are two Arab women together. They appear to be older. [Maybe in the 50’s or 60’s. Maybe they are related.] They are looking at lamb. It is displayed on ice like fish is in the fish case. This store sells lamb selection up to the whole lamb. The two women are pointing to the case and at a whole lamb and it appears they are talking in Arabic to each other in Arabic.

The women I see are all wearing light colored headscarves. [Of course this is a typical cultural scarf worn in this area, by Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, and Egyptians.]

. One women has a child with her, she is also wearing the same clothing, a light scarf and abaya. She also had a man walking in front of her talking to the cashier. The cashier is a white lady she is smiling. The Arab lady stands quietly with no expression on her face. They child standing next to her appears to be around 4 or 5 years old is a boy. The man talks to the cashier and pays the cashier for the items.

Almost all of them are wearing long black abayas’ that cover their whole body and light head scarves. One women is wearing some big black sweat pants. You cannot see any body shape at all.

He proceeds to walk in front of her and she follows with the child behind him towards the exit.

I didn’t see any women in the store that appeared to be Arab without the head scarf and most had on an abaya.

. In the parking lot there was Arab women getting into their cars, it appears they are driving themselves.

When I get close to them I do not smell any perfumes. They are not wearing any make up at all.

Memo 4 Data set #4 Arab Men Focus Group 3/26/15

Research Q: “How does understanding culture and identity help Arab women of Domestic Violence?”

Tribalism Negotiations Genderit is not her right usually her brother or father ask

for her rights, first another participant says it is between husband and wife to solve the problem if they can’t solve the problem they go to their families, and the families will come together to resolve the problem, the other participant says every family has an older guy who they can go to solve the problem otherwise they go to court,

continues he won’t give her sexual pleasure “get off” they continue you cannot leave your wife for four months [concluding her sexual right’s] they continue for example if the man goes to jail for longer than four months she can go to get a divorce.

abuse is for example when a women works the man takes the money, if the man is working and he comes home and she is not cooking he will hit her, the man won’t put her in a good place [ i.e. a good home] to live,

Shame if you don’t take care of your wife, shame is if a women is in the street and she wears perfume, another participate says there is no thing called shame there is only halal and haram [implied religious laws for behaviors-halal is allowed and haram is forbidden] and the participant continues and people don’t know the difference.

and then explain well first if he just hit her once in great while and he doesn’t hurt her she will want to keep her life the way it is, her home, her situation, she will forgive him

One continued sitting here like this with a women is a sin also. One participant adds shame is for man and women, not only women.

One participant expressed nodding head at me and state this here men sitting with women or women sitting with men is shame.

One participant adds but if she is in a really abusive situation and no one will do anything for her she has no choice so she should call police.

One participant stated from the beginning she doesn’t know her cousin she gets engaged before marriage, they need to let them get to know each other before marriage to see if they match, if they did, this it would solve a lot of problems, they get engaged and they don’t know each other

says if he keeps hitting her too much, the family, the brothers might get mad [the family extended] and might kill him. The participants adds this is the way it works. They will make him give her, her rights. The participant with the most English states, so the family intervenes on her behalf to make the man stop.

the women she is going to leave if she doesn’t feel love, and love is important. One participant adds, the thing is women when they cheat they cheat from the heart, they fall in love, man it’s just sex.

One participant states she doesn’t need to really [go to the police], there is two parts, one side she doesn’t listen to family and she doesn’t listen to parents is the only time she does go to police

Social media is a problem Facebook if a women likes my Facebook it causes jealousy the wife won’t like it maybe is will because a fight and he will hit her to make her stop.

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NEG

SOC

If they have family they will call family to solve the problem if it once in a while he has a problem with work, friends and taking it out on her if he does it always he deserves to be put in jail.

. She can try to talk to her husband, she can call her relatives back home if they are not here, most of the time she has family, and one participant speaks up and says the last choice is the police.

You have to know something when people are away from religion that is when they get problem, so when people are close to Islam they make the house happy, kids happy, and each other happy, there are rules and limits people have to go on and no one would be too bad and no one would be hurt.

Findings & Results

Repackaged Data

Research Q #1 “What program expectations do these women have for programs to help them?”  

Memo 1 Data set #1 Elissa 2-24-15 

□   Housing is an issue for these women because they are considered white

□    …and then the only way for her to be selected for transitional housing… What does that mean? I did work in a transitional housing program before. It means. You need a job with check stubs. Women don’t ever get into transitional housing programs, this creates cultural barriers, and many of these women are undocumented and they only have visas and if they are working it’s a cash paying job. Then shelters select participants from their own list. We don’t have a program and these women are not on their lists.”

□    A common question these women ask, is can the government give me housing? The options are they can get on a waiting list, but they need to have a job to get into housing programs,

□    We need funding for programs and staff to meet the needs of the Arab population, we are not white. It’s important to be identified as Arab we are not white and we do not have the same resources or privileges. When Arabs first came to America they fought to be identified as white, to fit in. But now we have these issue we do not have the same resources or privileges.”

□    If she is undocumented you can close every door, she can’t get social services. If she is documented I send her to DHS, she may not be able to speak English, and language is a barrier. She will get benefits funding. The biggest issue these women face is housing. Housing funding is a big issue.”

□    They need community support, she doesn’t need to be turned away at the mosque, she needs social support, not to be shamed or stigmatized←←divorced women, child care, there needs to be housing for this target population, with regulations that match their needs.”

□   We need to have social changes, be willing to accept that our women have to work in jobs that they have not worked before, for example working overnight at a Mars Candy Factory. We have to change as a community 

Memo 2 Data set #2 Julie 3-4-15

□   Most of our women sign off their possessions and children to their husbands they are not knowing what they signed, it’s our biggest hurdle, you know?

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□    Language, culture, it can go both ways, our women’s understanding, or lack of understanding of the rules and responsibilities or providers, one thing, and not understanding the laws, that would add up to their fears, of the interpreter, or abuser, like not knowing, like this women she just called me she is anxious, she finally made the move to go to the shelter, she now doesn’t know what to expect so I have to repeat it again and again, to calm her down to wait, and they want it now, change has to happen, they don’t know they have to wait a little bit, to get what they want they have to suffer a little bit, to get where they wanted, because for most Arab women, I don’t like generalization, these women they come, these women were sheltered, they are sheltered, they were protected, they never made decisions, the not used to making decisions, now they have to take risks, and they not used to making decisions or taking risks. So it really creates anxiety for them.

□    another challenge is when they don’t make a decision, after all, when she goes back to her abuser, after all, it’s a challenge for all advocates, that when she goes back to her abuser, you have to assure her that she can come back to you for help again, you don’t get mad or frustrated,

□    And working with the whole condition with the whole state of the family, to make sure they have the food stamps the medical card, so they are not going to be evicted, we also help them to find jobs, when we can we are not an employment agency, but uggh, the community seeking employment, call us and we say we are hiring so we say go see this person. You know, I know my coworkers help others build their resumes.

□    So basically they just left her, left her stranded. You know what I mean, so in this case she has to make serious decisions, and she was not able to make decisions, she was not ready to make serious decisions, like in leaving him, oh ah, because you’re not going to leave him, you’re not patient enough,

□    she had to apply for VAWA because he didn’t apply for immigration status for her, so now she is with her friends and she needs a job and a house, and her the thing her friends live in a very remote area, not close to any community, so I was trying to direct her to find a job, and then we can find an apartment for her, but there is no resources for her, there is not much resources for her,  

Memo 3 Data set #3

Shop and Save 3/17/15 11:30Am

□    The women appear to be distant from others. Not going close to them. Not engaging with them.

□   They don’t appear to smile just blank expressions. 

□   They don’t appear to know the other women in the store that are dressed like them. I do not see anyone recognizing the others in anyway, nor do they say anything.

 

Memo 4 Data set #4

Arab Men Focus Group 3/26/15

 

□    continues he won’t give her sexual pleasure “get off” they continue you cannot leave your wife for four months [concluding her sexual right’s] they continue for example if the man goes to jail for longer than four months she can go to get a divorce.

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□   and then explain well first if he just hit her once in great while and he doesn’t hurt her she will want to keep her life the way it is, her home, her situation, she will forgive him

□   One participant adds but if she is in a really abusive situation and no one will do anything for her she has no choice so she should call police.

□   the women she is going to leave if she doesn’t feel love, and love is important. One participant adds, the thing is women when they cheat they cheat from the heart, they fall in love, man it’s just sex.

□    Social media is a problem Facebook if a women likes my Facebook it causes jealousy the wife won’t like it maybe is will cause a fight and he will hit her to make her stop.

□   She can try to talk to her husband, she can call her relatives back home if they are not here, most of the time she has family, and one participant speaks up and says the last choice is the police.

Summary:

It appears that women are certainly negotiating terms of the relationship between husband, wife, family, and in the case of domestic violence seeking outside solutions that are beyond the scope of traditional tribal cultural methods. This selected passages of data represent the women’s negotiations in seeking help and negotiations with others. These women the passages refers too shows them stating what they need. In their actions. From Memo 1 women are seeking basic subsistence such as housing, emergency housing, food, work, childcare, and emotional support. Among the basic needs of any person in a displaced situation. One of the overall ideas is social change. The women need social change to be able to work in more places of employment. In Memo 2 women need help with legal services, language, decision making is an issue, and the women lack understanding of the American system and how to navigate it. Memo 3 focused on women in public, there interactions with others is very telling, first from the restrictive nature of the culture, women being fully covered in Islamic clothing was a bit alienating. But more that that was the way the women interacted in public with others. They kept their distance, they had no expressions, were not engaging, and even from each other. That means that in this community, as large as it is, these women who look alike sharing the same cultural identity are alien from each other in every other aspect. It is typical psychology in a community people who find people like them tend to socialize or engage each other for them sharing differences that the greater community doesn’t share. I find this very interesting. Memo 4 focused on aspects of negotiating needs or terms with others. When the women are engaging with men it is apparent these are the terms they negotiate with or get what they want or need. They seek help from family, get family to advocate, they can demand rights based on sex or if their husband is gone for a period of time. And jealousy and fighting tend to be a source of control over the men. Overall I see that the system of tribalism and the culture are very restrictive towards women. However women still have options in seeking help in abuse. I find it interesting how they are negotiating these terms.

 

Research Q2: “How does understanding culture and identity help Arab women of Domestic Violence?”

Memo 1 Data set #1 Elissa 2-24-15

□   Feels they still have the back home mentality here in the USA

□   I suggested she call police and she was taken back because she was worried about what people would think, and I thought he was going to kill her.”

□   3aeb, is a theme and it is very common amongst the Arab community, even here in the USA it is like a black cloud hanging over the community.”

□   Women go into survival mode, women think ‘Family’ first. If they [implied family] don’t agree with her leaving her ex-husband the family will abuse her.

□   Women are so focused for thinking about now in survival mode, until they get comfortable, then the culture stigma comes back, with pressure to marry. Constantly pressured to get married.

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□   A lady was in a relationship with a man with another wife, a polygamous marriage. He and his other wife was abusive towards her, and she had a lot of children with him.  Her way out of the situation is to find someone who will marry her.

□   From my experience they limit themselves because they worry about what everyone else is saying. Because she has a label of being divorced. [Gestures with hands in bad or negative way, negative tone of voice] →→ they become the label.  So they are what everyone says they are.”

□   they were told ‘ustoro3 halkoum,’  by those at the mosque, which translates into, meaning, cover yourself, meaning, what your doing is shameful, and do not be shameful. They help and hinder at the same time. When seeking help they say, ‘you leave your homes, you divorce your husbands, and now you come to me expecting me to support you’

□   She will go to other agencies and she will try to go to the mosque in the beginning, so religion navigates, women they follow what the religion tells them to do they go to the mosque and the sheik [means preacher], to seek guidance on the issue.”

□   Family does not want divorce especially if she has kids,

□   Families will disown women for leaving. If she does, she will have no support system. Her whole system is gone. No community, no family. It is not unusual.

Memo 2 Data set #2 Julie 3-4-15

□   the way they reason, the way people logic things, things people logic things in the Arab world verses how they logic and reason them over here [indicating being in USA] for example being on time, and the law, the laws of the country, over here, …the penalty’s, consequences of things, it’s not understood to immigrants, immigrants don’t have concept of that. Because in the old countries, if you are, if you have a run in with the law, there are tribal things that can get you out, it’s not the law, is not the only measure,

□   if you have a car accident, it’s not the law that is going to resolve the issue, or insurance companies , it’s going to be the two families getting together to decide what is the loss, even if he is in jail, the people holding him in jail, he is in jail for his safety, so he wouldn’t be killed in the process, not because he committed a crime.

□   You know, it didn’t makes sense why if I do something wrong, it has to be it has to bring shame to the whole family, and why the family has to be ashamed of me

□   And we have like women, like every culture has their own way of abusing women like, it all falls under financial abuse. You know the other cultures, practice financial abuse, but this is what they do in our culture, so she doesn’t have anything in her name so she won’t get anything. If he has a business he will put it into his brother’s name.

□    in Arab culture, they take the children, and send them to the old country, they abduct the children, the husbands you know, this is our biggest safety talk about and hurdle, we talk about how to prevent the husband from abducting the children, this is a big deal, each culture has a pattern, this is a pattern in our culture, abducting the children and taking them to the old country

□    so then when she called Jordan they told her if she divorces him here , it will [sic] count as an Islamic divorce, so she would lose her dowry she agreed on in the Islamic…[ marriage], so it became a conflict between Islamic marriage and legal marriage.   [sic* implied will not]

□    In general there is an issue on the religious institution, I don’t want to say the mosque or the church, because the clergy don’t want to come across like they are breaking homes, you know, so,

□    They try to mediate them, they want to make, and they want to mend them together. Not to break them. [not to break up marriages/families]

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□    Yes it is, they don’t know how, when we talk about understanding the law or responsibility, this is a big thing, you don’t know what to do here, they don’t understand the system, they think if they send him to the old country maybe his uncle, will be firm with him for a month two, like  disciplining him,

□    Shame in our culture is like, the women have this heavy mountain on their shoulders where they carry the reputation of the family on her shoulders, they carry the reputation of their daughters, the women as if, if she then betrays her marriage she betrays her husband in terms of even if she divorces him, people will look down on her and her daughters, they will think, they will start thinking like she is playing around or fooling around, her daughters will not be disciplined or raised well. So that is a big huge load on the women, to think what they are going to think of me and my daughters, the boys are off the hook usually.

□    they think a divorced women is like a free women, that they can approach and make advanced, so they are tested that way they test them.

 

Memo 3 Data set #3

Shop and Save 3/17/15 11:30Am

□    The abaya is dark in color and it almost completely covers her feet. 

□    I look her up and down, wearing a white headscarf pinned under the chin, it bows out in the front, she is not wearing any make up, and she has a long coat on called an abaya. [It looks much like a trench coat.]

□    see Arab women dressed from head to toe headscarves.

□    She is wearing pants and jacket that goes down over her bum. Her cloths are lose fit and you cannot see any shape. Again her scarf is whitish and her clothing dark.

□    The women I see are all wearing light colored headscarves. [Of course this is a typical cultural scarf worn in this area, by Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, and Egyptians.]

□    Almost all of them are wearing long black abayas’ that cover their whole body and light head scarves. One women is wearing some big black sweat pants. You cannot see any body shape at all.

□    I didn’t see any women in the store that appeared to be Arab without the head scarf and most had on an abaya.

□    When I get close to them I do not smell any perfumes. They are not wearing any make up at all.

Memo 4 Data set #4

Arab Men Focus Group 3/26/15

 

□    it is not her right usually her brother or father ask for her rights, first another participant says it is between husband and wife to solve the problem if they can’t solve the problem they go to their families, and the families will come together to resolve the problem, the other participant says every family has  an older guy who they can go to solve the problem otherwise they go to court,

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□    Shame if you don’t take care of your wife, shame is if a women is in the street and she wears perfume , another participate says there is no thing called shame there is only halal and haram [implied religious laws for behaviors-halal is allowed and haram is forbidden] and the participant continues and people don’t know the difference.

□    One participant expressed nodding head at me and state this here men sitting with women or women sitting with men is shame

□    says if he keeps hitting her too much, the family, the brothers might get mad [the family extended] and might kill him. The participants adds this is the way it works. They will make him give her, her rights. The participant with the most English states, so the family intervenes on her behalf to make the man stop

□    One participant states she doesn’t need to really [go to the police], there is two parts, one side she doesn’t listen to family and she doesn’t listen to parents is the only time she does go to police

□    If they have family they will call family to solve the problem if it once in a while he has a problem with work, friends and taking it out on her if he does it always he deserves to be put in jail.

□    You have to know something when people are away from religion that is when they get problem, so when people are close to Islam they make the house happy, kids happy, and each other happy, there are rules and limits people have to go on and no one would be too bad and no one would be hurt.

 Summary:

Memo 1 women’s lives are controlled by family. The local Arab community culture is the same as overseas “back home mentality” women’s role is to be married. Shame controls women if they get a divorced it is the same as criminalization. Women are stigmatized for divorce so much so, they stay in abusive situations. Memo 2 this data set shows that the Arab community here is mixed between immigrants and 1 st generation Arabs. They tend to deal with problems in a tribal manner in dealing with family. They do not understand the system here so they are still following the system from back home. Women have little control over money and family kidnapping is a huge problem.  Men have little or no respect for divorced women. They insult them by approaching them and testing them. If a women is divorced she is stigmatized and labeled. And religious institutions do not want to be seen as breaking families up and at the same time they shame the women. Shame is a major part of the cultural experience for women. Memo 3 reflects that the community here is extremely homogenous according to cultural standards. Fundamental Islamic practice of adherence showing the dress code of Muslims. Given the shame factor being so high in the community it is not surprising, almost all the women I seen was covered from head to toe. Which is probably a pretty high number in any given Muslim/Arab community in the United States. This tells me a lot about the mobility of women in this community. Women tend not to work when they are dressed so religiously “full coverage.” And tells me that by the grocery experience, that there is a high probability these women are homemakers and wives. Memo 4 this was the most productive data to reflect mobility of women, women cannot ask for her own rights, women should ask family to ask for her rights. Women should not go to police but its ok in extreme circumstances but some antagonism was around this justification. It’s a shame for women to sit with men and men with women who are unrelated. Problems of this scope, domestic violence is dealt with by the family as a reinforcement, advocate and punishment for social laws. In other words tribal tribunal system. Again this data set reflects the importance and meaning religion plays into the community life.

Levels of engagement/

Interaction

Data Panels Storyboard

Arab Women Domestic Violence Chicago

1. “What program expectations do these women have for programs to help them?”

2. “How does understanding culture and identity

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help Arab women of Domestic Violence?”These panels are evaluating the relationship between the data and the relationships between both research questions. Each item was coded yellow or green depending on the nature of the item. In order to understand the data it was necessary to build panels that represent different types of negotiations between the subjects of the experience. The panels are subjective to specific people, institutions, such as family, social institutions, and including the public life “experience.” In contrast with specific phases of the event of Domestic Violence.

Marriage/Culture Negotiating Terms Stay Leave

Husband/Wife

And we have like women, like every culture has their own way of abusing women like, it all falls under financial abuse. You know the other cultures, practice financial abuse, but this is what they do in our culture, so she doesn’t have anything in her name so she won’t get anything. If he has a business he will put it into his brother’s name.

You know what I mean, so in this case she has to make serious decisions, and she was not able to make decisions, she was not ready to make serious decisions, like in leaving him, oh ah, because you’re not going to leave him, you’re not patient enough,

Social media is a problem Facebook if a women likes my Facebook it causes jealousy the wife won’t like it maybe it will cause a fight and he will hit her to make her stop.

continues he won’t give her sexual pleasure “get off” they continue you cannot leave your wife for four months [concluding her sexual right’s] they continue for example if the man goes to jail for longer than four months she can go to get a divorce.

another challenge is when they don’t make a decision, after all, when she goes back to her abuser, after all, it’s a challenge for all advocates, that when she goes back to her abuser, you have to assure her that she can come back to you for help again, you don’t get mad or frustrated,

and then explain well first if he just hit her once in great while and he doesn’t hurt her she will want to keep her life the way it is, her home, her situation, she will forgive him

Most of our women sign off their possessions and children to their husbands they are not knowing what they signed, it’s our biggest hurdle, you know?

The women she is going to leave if she doesn’t feel love, and love is important. One participant adds, the thing is women when they cheat they cheat from the heart, they fall in love, man it’s just sex.

A lady was in a relationship with a man with another wife, a polygamous marriage. He and his other wife was abusive towards her, and she had a lot of children with him. Her way out of the situation is to find someone who will marry her.

in Arab culture, they take the children, and send them to the old country, they abduct the children, the husbands you know, this is our biggest safety talk about and hurdle, we talk about how to prevent the husband from abducting the children, this is a big deal, each culture has a pattern, this is a pattern in our culture, abducting the children and taking them to the old country

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Summary

In this panel you can see the two distinctions between the two research question in relationship to husband and wife and the negotiations between the two in the case of abuse and in the relationship. In the first panel it is obvious women are dependent on men for economic support and they are subject to that support. The women negotiate terms of endearment, abuse, staying and leaving in this panel. Women do need to make tough decisions. The relationship between research question #2 and #1 is very clear when looking at this panel. Perhaps a note to the cyclical relationship of violence and domestic abuse with the period of honeymoon and the building of pressure and the peak “incident of abuse.” Can be seen in this panel. If the man controls all the economic wealth, the women is completely dependent, you can see the real interplay of self-negotiations to leave or to stay.

Family Extended

if you have a car accident, it’s not the law that is going to resolve the issue, or insurance companies, it’s going to be the two families getting together to decide what is the loss, even if he is in jail, the people holding him in jail, he is in jail for his safety, so he wouldn’t be killed in the process, not because he committed a crime.

Yes it is, they don’t know how, when we talk about understanding the law or responsibility, this is a big thing, you don’t know what to do here, they don’t understand the system, they think if they send him to the old country maybe his uncle, will be firm with him for a month two, like disciplining him,

She can try to talk to her husband, she can call her relatives back home if they are not here, most of the time she has family, and one participant speaks up and says the last choice is the police.

Women go into survival mode, women think ‘Family’ first. If they [implied family] don’t agree with her leaving her ex-husband the family will abuse her.

You know, it didn’t makes sense why if I do something wrong, it has to be it has to bring shame to the whole family, and why the family has to be ashamed of me

it is not her right usually her brother or father ask for her rights, first another participant says it is between husband and wife to solve the problem if they can’t solve the problem they go to their families, and the families will come together to resolve the problem, the other participant says every family has an older guy who they can go to solve the problem otherwise they go to court,

Says if he keeps hitting

So basically they just left her, left her stranded. You know what I mean, so in this case she has to make serious decisions, and she was not able to make decisions, she was not ready to make serious decisions, like in leaving him, oh ah, because you’re not going to leave him, you’re not patient enough,

Family does not want divorce especially if she has kids,

Families will disown women for leaving. If she does, she will have no support system. Her whole system is gone. No community, no family. It is not unusual.

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her too much, the family, and the brothers might get mad [the family extended] and might kill him. The participants adds this is the way it works. They will make him give her, her rights. The participant with the most English states, so the family intervenes on her behalf to make the man stop

One participant states she doesn’t need to really [go to the police], there is two parts, one side she doesn’t listen to family and she doesn’t listen to parents is the only time she does go to police

If they have family they will call family to solve the problem if it once in a while he has a problem with work, friends and taking it out on her if he does it always he deserves to be put in jail.

Summary

Here you can see that tribalism and culture run the maintenance of social ties. That negotiations and conflicts are resolved in this panel are the dominant theme. That explains the lack of knowledge of how things are done here in USA, end in consequences of being disowned by family. Clearly traditional culture is preferred. Women are subject to the men in their family decisions. Just like the panel shows mostly green for cultural relevance and answering research #2. Women’s mobility is limited by this social barrier” emphasis of strong families ties-even if it’s unhealthy.” Even if it is not seen physically but has serious consequences.

Religious Institutions

She will go to other agencies and she will try to go to the mosque in the beginning, so religion navigates, women they follow what the religion tells them to do they go to the mosque and the sheik [means preacher], to seek guidance on the issue.”

Shame if you don’t take care of your wife, shame

They were told ‘ustoro3 halkoum,’ by those at the mosque, which translates into, meaning, cover yourself, meaning, what your doing is shameful, and do not be shameful. They help and hinder at the same time. When seeking help they say, ‘you leave your homes, you divorce your husbands, and now you come to me expecting me to support

They try to mediate them, they want to make, and they want to mend them together. Not to break them. [not to break up marriages/families]

You have to know something when people are away from

They need community support, she doesn’t need to be turned away at the mosque, she needs social support, not to be shamed or stigmatized←←divorced women, child care, there needs to be housing for this target population, with regulations that match their needs.”

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is if a women is in the street and she wears perfume, another participate says there is no thing called shame there is only halal and haram [implied religious laws for behaviors-halal is allowed and haram is forbidden] and the participant continues and people don’t know the difference.

you’

In general there is an issue on the religious institution, I don’t want to say the mosque or the church, because the clergy don’t want to come across like they are breaking homes, you know, so,

religion that is when they get problem, so when people are close to Islam they make the house happy, kids happy, and each other happy, there are rules and limits people have to go on and no one would be too bad and no one would be hurt.

Summary

This panel ”religious institutions” is a key point of how limited women are in social mobility. The religious institutions that are evasive and ignore the needs of people in need. “Putting women in their rightful place-in a burka, in the kitchen, barefoot, pregnant, and without perfume.” Here the aspect of personal liberty comes to a standstill and the religious institutions teaching old fashion division of labor ethics. It is completely going against equality values that women have fought for in the United States, and clearly the women who live under the scaffolding of such religious leaders, institutions, and doctrines, that have established large facility in the USA today via immigration have imported the traditional division of labor back onto American shores. This indicating serious issues of inequality for immigrant women. Women cannot escape the confines of abuse by reaching out to leaders they follow without being shamed and blamed. It is clear that the new ultra conservative fundamental gender roles are antithetical to democratic values of gender equality. The building blocks of such a dichotomy is that of the pillars of ultraconservative faith. The division of labor is real when women are dependent on the patriarchal system for everything. In these panels I see very limited personal liberty. It is evident that women do need support here. Social and community support and that it is likely not to come from the religious or Arab community.

Other social Institutions

I suggested she call police and she was taken back because she was worried about what people would think, and I thought he was going to kill her.”

And working with the whole condition with the whole state of the family, to make sure they have the food stamps the medical card, so they are not going to be evicted, we also help them to find jobs, when we can we are not an employment agency, but uggh, the community seeking employment, call us and we say we are hiring so we say go see this person. You know, I know my coworkers help others build their resumes.

Language, culture, it can go both ways, our women’s understanding, or lack of understanding of the rules and responsibilities or providers, one thing, and not understanding the laws, that would add up to their fears, of the interpreter, or abuser, like not knowing, like this women she just called me she is anxious, she finally made the move to go to the shelter, she now doesn’t know what to expect so I have to repeat it again and again, to calm her down to wait, and they want it now, change has to happen, they don’t know they have to wait a little bit, to get what they want they have to suffer a little bit, to get where they wanted, because for most Arab women, I don’t like generalization, these women they come, these women were sheltered, they are sheltered, they were protected, they never made decisions, they are not used to making decisions, now they have to

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take risks, and they not used to making decisions or taking risks. So it really creates anxiety for them.

If she is undocumented you can close every door, she can’t get social services. If she is documented I send her to DHS, she may not be able to speak English, and language is a barrier. She will get benefits funding. The biggest issue these women face is housing. Housing funding is a big issue.”

…and then the only way for her to be selected for transitional housing… What does that mean? I did work in a transitional housing program before. It means. You need a job with check stubs. Women don’t ever get into transitional housing programs, this creates cultural barriers, and many of these women are undocumented and they only have visas and if they are working it’s a cash paying job. Then shelters select participants from their own list. We don’t have a program and these women are not on their lists.”

Summary

It is clear that ladies looking to leave or escape this situation are needing a lot of support and it’s going to come from outside sources that are not within the families, religious, or Arab communities. I like to think back to before the civil rights amendment and movement when women were so dependent on men for everything. The workforce was very limited for women and women had to seek help form family or outside sources for help. I equate this panel to being similar in fashion. Immigrant women have a narrow opportunity for changes to their situation. And it is clear that they need help from outside institutions. This panel is one of the keys for helping these women succeed in transitioning out of an abusive situations. This panel is first steps. First steps suggested is training to overcome—shame/self-esteem, information about women’s legal rights, and counseling on family roles/ expectations of taking different actions. As well as getting into a support group. And it is recommended to get women into a support group with none Arab women. Coaching on building relationships with others in America joining other groups or institutions that will be a positive support system.

Civic Institutions

A common question these women ask, is can the government give me housing? The options are they can get on a waiting list, but they need to have a job to get into housing programs,

so then when she called Jordan they told her if she divorces him here, it will [sic] count as an Islamic divorce, so she would lose her dowry she agreed on

she had to apply for VAWA because he didn’t apply for immigration status for her, so now she is with her friends and she needs a job and a house, and her the thing her friends live in a very remote area, not close to any community, so I was

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We need funding for programs and staff to meet the needs of the Arab population, we are not white. It’s important to be identified as Arab we are not white and we do not have the same resources or privileges. When Arabs first came to America they fought to be identified as white, to fit in. But now we have these issue we do not have the same resources or privileges.”

One participant adds but if she is in a really abusive situation and no one will do anything for her she has no choice so she should call police.

in the Islamic…[ marriage], so it became a conflict between Islamic marriage and legal marriage. [sic* implied will not]

trying to direct her to find a job, and then we can find an apartment for her, but there is no resources for her, there is not much resources for her,

Housing is an issue for these women because they are considered white

Summary

This panel is next steps that deal with policy and legal issues that these women need. For instance the first steps in the panel above addressed her calling police, gaining food stamps, benefits, language skills, documentation, etc. Those needs will be meet by outside agencies that can help them access them. However, there are still things that need to be meet to help these women. Since this is a fairly new immigrant community there are holes in policy and in funding. As well as miss classification of being white that hinders helping the women. So currently there is a lot of need that cannot be meet by these few excerpts. It will take time, fundraising, planning, and engaging for policy creation/changes, and finding resources to make this happen. It is clear this is the whole that traps women into abusive situations and makes it difficult to leave an abuser.

Other-Public Life

Feels they still have the back home mentality here in the USA

3aeb, is a theme and it is very common amongst the Arab community, even here in the USA it is like a black cloud hanging over the community.”

the way they reason, the way people logic things, things people logic things in the Arab world verses how they logic and

The women appear to be distant from others. Not going close to them. Not engaging with them.

They don’t appear to know the other women in the store that are dressed like them. I do not see anyone recognizing the others in anyway, nor do they say anything.

They don’t appear to

We need to have social changes, be willing to accept that our women have to work in jobs that they have not worked before, for example working overnight at a Mars Candy Factory. We have to change as a community

Women are so focused for thinking about now in survival mode, until they get comfortable, then the culture stigma comes back, with pressure to marry. Constantly pressured to get married.

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reason them over here [indicating being in USA] for example being on time, and the law, the laws of the country, over here, …the penalty’s, consequences of things, it’s not understood to immigrants, immigrants don’t have concept of that. Because in the old countries, if you are, if you have a run in with the law, there are tribal things that can get you out, it’s not the law, is not the only measure,

smile just blank expressions.

From my experience they limit themselves because they worry about what everyone else is saying. Because she has a label of being divorced. [Gestures with hands in bad or negative way, negative tone of voice] →→ they become the label. So they are what everyone says they are.”

Shame in our culture is like, the women have this heavy mountain on their shoulders where they carry the reputation of the family on her shoulders, they carry the reputation of their daughters, the women as if, of she the betrays her marriage she betrays her husband in terms of even if she divorces him, people will look down on her and her daughters, they will think, they will start thinking like she is playing around or fooling around, her daughters will not be disciplined or raised well. So that is a big huge load on the women’s, to think what they are going to think of me and my daughters, the boys are off the hook usually.

The abaya is dark in color and it almost completely covers her feet.

I look her up and down, wearing a white headscarf pinned under the chin, it bows out in the front, she is not wearing any make up, and she has a long coat on called an abaya. [It looks much like a trench coat.]

She is wearing pants and

They think a divorced women is like a free women that they can approach and make advanced, so they are tested that way they test them.

Shame in our culture is like, the women have this heavy mountain on their shoulders where they carry the reputation of the family on her shoulders, they carry the reputation of their daughters, the women as if, of she the betrays her marriage she betrays her husband in terms of even if she divorces him, people will look down on her and her daughters, they will think, they will start thinking like she is playing around or fooling around, her daughters will not be disciplined or raised well. So that is a big huge load on the women’s, to think what they are going to think of me and my daughters, the boys are off the hook usually.

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jacket that goes down over her bum. Her cloths are lose fit and you cannot see any shape. Again her scarf is whitish and her clothing dark.

The women I see are all wearing light colored headscarves. [Of course this is a typical cultural scarf worn in this area, by Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, and Egyptians.]

Almost all of them are wearing long black abayas’ that cover their whole body and light head scarves. One women is wearing some big black sweat pants. You cannot see any body shape at all.

When I get close to them I do not smell any perfumes. They are not wearing any make up at all.

One participant expressed nodding head at me and state this here men sitting with women or women sitting with men is shame

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Summary

This panel shows how restrictive the culture gender roles are for women. This is an example of their lives in public and what that means. Women cannot work in specific jobs, women are shamed, women are honor of family “in other words”, shame is tied to women being married and divorced, the labels are criminal in nature to the extent women are harassed as divorces’.

Literature Review

Human Rights & Domestic Violence

Bucci writes the United States National Crime Victimization Survey 1999 to 2005 with 53% of all crimes where committed by known perpetrators by women, these cases represent domestic violence cases within the United States. (Bucci, 2012) The United Nations created a treaty in 1992, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, it is aimed at eliminating gender disparities of women. This motion included the element of tackling domestic violence or violence against women and has been adopted by at least 180 states in the union. (Bucci, 2012) But has been rejected by a majority of Muslims nations. Who value the Islamic definition of sharia that has for women’s rights as superior. (Barlow & Ahkbarzeda, 2006) Bucci writes that research is lacking on the issue but is picking up around the world by agencies, governments and nonprofit institutions. Since the beginning of the intuitive to measure domestic violence to better understand it, many things have come to light, for instance at least 90% of all victims of domestic violence in Italy do not report domestic violence. Since the creation of the laws to combat domestic violence there was 22 shelters for women in 2002 and by 2006 there were 49. (Bucci, 2012) Adam and Schew (2007) studies on immigrants from Asia including women from Pakistan and India in Illinois conclude that patriarchal practices with strict gender roles translates into increased levels of domestic violence at a higher rate when compared to other non-Asian groups.

Religion and Gender

Also a contributing factor to the situation of women failing their predicament was police training. In 2006 police officers reported they lacked training. (Bucci, 2012) A major issue contributing to women’s predicament in Italy was the social attitudes towards women was the social patriarchal views and that of religion that reinforced women’s role in society. It was not even legal to divorce in Italy until 1970. In Italian Civil Codes men was given the rights and authority over their female family members and spouses including personal affairs, finances, and children. (Bucci, 2012) Bucci states, “This inequality between men and women has been reinforced in the Catholic Church by the Vatican, in order to preserve at all

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costs its view of the ultimate sanctity of the two parent heterosexual family.” (Bucci, 2012) Comparatively Arab Muslim culture both follow the principle that values religion of women’s liberty by using the religion to justify women’s social status and gender roles expressively, “…here is a fundamental contradiction between Islam...and equality between the sexes. Sexual equality violates Islam’s premises, actualized in its laws, that heterosexual love is dangerous to Allah’s order. Muslim marriage is based on male dominance. The desegregation of the sexes violates Islam’s ideology on women’s position in the social order: that women should be under the authority of fathers, brothers or husbands.” (Barlow & Ahkbarzeda, 2006) Both Christianity and Islam place the family as an institution of religious sanctity and re-enforce religious bylaws to define women’s status and roles. Hence Barlow and Ahkbarzeda (2006) state that patriarchy is the cornerstone of institutionalized gender inequality of the Muslim world, which has been paramount to establishing social order over the centuries. Zaal et al (2007) quotes, “The mythical unity of...‘imagined communities’ which divides the world between ‘us’ and ‘them’ is maintained and ideologically reproduced by a whole system of...symbolic ‘border guards’... women’s roles [function] as symbolic borderguards and as embodiments of the collectivity, while at the same time being its cultural reproducers’’ pg 172

Context of Muslim living in the west. “Minority Status”

By 2006 the Muslim population had risen to an estimated 13,000,000 in Europe with current rates of Muslim births at 50% for those in the country. (Bucci, 2012) Which makes this information relevant to the study in Bridgeview, IL. With the rising number of immigrants and Muslims in the country there has been conflict between western culture and the Muslim immigrants. Bucci (2012) quotes “… the Muslim and Western worlds have replaced the Soviet Western standoff on the center stage in the post-Cold War era…Some Western observers have concentrated attention on Islamic radicalism and militancy, depicting Islam and Islamist movements as a “global threat” that must be curbed…they have argued that the Muslim world in general…are unable to embrace the nature of modern human progress, namely, individual freedoms, democratic governance, social tolerance, women’s rights, and political competition.” Referencing is the context in which this immigrant population is living under. It is apparent that there is more to the context of the experience of immigrants in America when taking into account their situations. Zaal et al (2007) looks at immigrant women of Arab Muslim backgrounds to better understand the context in which they are living in the USA means and their identities. Of which shows that the women not only feel they are under surveillance by their family, communities, they are also under surveillance from the government and God. Which in turn they internalized and constantly feel as if they have to act accordingly to protect themselves. One of the women that participated in the study expressed her fear for her mother who dressed in traditional Islamic clothing. Of which they internalized on a level of feeling guilty or paranoid for. So much so one participant she had internalized the stereotypes on such a deep level she was afraid of other persons on the train with a bad who looked Muslim. And one other participant expressed she has to behave in a certain manner to protect her parents reputation in the community. (Zaal et al, 2007) That including a current climate of fear of Muslims, islamophobia, with the tendency of exclusion which in effect has isolated the immigrant communities and increased religious fundamentalism within immigrant Muslim communities which has inspired many Muslims of western countries to become terrorist. (Bucci, 2012) Even if the majority of these terrorist wanna-be’s do not represent the faction they were inspired after this recipe. Hence the emphasis on integration of Muslims into the fabric of western society is at the forefront of necessity.

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When Muslims are subject to self-isolation, radicalization becomes an issue in a community and hence – clinging to identity of the Islam faith. As well, the implication for women of domestic violence is that they tend not to integrate well with the secular society which inhibits their ability to break free of the cultural dogma and women gender roles of inequality. Bucci adds the environment of a hostel western host has inspired the Muslim immigrant communities to hasten onto their strict fundamental religious identities that hence radicalized the second and third generations. (Bucci, 2012)

Migration Patterns

The majority of Muslim immigrants in Italy first generation is male Muslim immigrants. Which is reflective of the Muslim immigration pattern seen here in Chicago. After gaining citizenship by sponsorship by marriage or family, the first generation marry and bring immigrant women to the new country. As well brining all the other male relatives they can to work. Since there is much need for jobs due to the influx brought on by conflict in the Middle East. As the current environment in Italy with wars and terrorism, Italians mistrust Muslim immigrants and do not embrace them in the country making integration hard. (Bucci, 2012) The same can be said about Immigrant Muslims in the United States.

Bucci adds this background adds especially challenging effects to the reality in which immigrant Muslim women of domestic violence face. (Bucci, 2012) Bucci reintegration of findings in this research project here in Chicago, that immigrant Muslim women face cultural barriers, language barriers, unfamiliar with the current country/government, financial barriers, legal status barriers, their strict social norms, facing deportation, and family kidnapping. (Bucci, 2012) The parliament also acknowledged that what makes it especially challenging for women these Islamic cultures like polygamy, the concepts of Islamic law that governs family, and the Muslim view of women that makes it especially hard for women Muslim immigrants. Bucci also quotes saying “…gender inequality is acknowledged and justified in religious terms on the grounds that God made men and women ‘essentially’ different” (Bucci, 2012) There for the religious implication justifies the behaver it is hard to change or regulate. The socio-cultural-religious framework of sharia law clearly defines women’s rights and implications in terms of her role, financial status, inheritance, legal rules, values that are fairly strict. And it is clear in the Quran that man is made superior over women with the following quote Surah 4 Verse 34,

“Men have authority [qawwama] over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they [men] spend their wealth to maintain them [women]. Good women are obedient [ta’a]. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those [women] from whom you fear disobedience [nushaz], admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. Allah is high,” (Bucci, 2012)

The implication of the motion by United Nations to combat issues of gender inequality have not been adopted by majority Muslim countries in that there is a push for sharia law to regulate the affairs of women, placing men in the top of the hierarchical system. Which adds to ignoring the problem. Bucci states if you go by statistics in Egypt a person might believe there is no domestic violence in Egypt which is widely known is not true. Bucci adds there is extreme pressure on women in Egypt not to report crimes and thus their might be backlash or honor crimes and hence they are blamed for being victim’s. (Bucci, 2012)

One item quoted by Bucci stands out due to it being a study on Palestinian women, which Bucci quotes with a study of 495 “…women 95% of whom were Muslim, 43% of those respondents strongly agreed

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that a battered woman is solely responsible for the violence instigated against her in marriage.” (Buccie, 2012) Another study on Jordanian women revealed “…results suggest that Jordanian women not only accept wife-beating as appropriate under certain circumstances, but they tend to also blame the victim for the violence. The participants tended to view domestic violence as a family problem, and believed that the wife actually benefited from the discipline imposed by her husband. There was also a strong tendency to excuse husbands for any violent behavior consistent with Islam’s patriarchal ideology.” Another study on Saudi men and women revealed “…75% of the sample view physical punishment as part of the Saudi family, with 30% of the males admitting abusing female members of their family and 53% of that group feeling that women needed to be beaten for their actions. Forty-six percent of the sample (men and women) felt women were abused because violence is an effective way to deal with female misconduct.” (Bucci, 2012)

Salido (2002) explores the experience of the immigrant women of domestic violence. Salido concludes that there is limited data that is on this subject and at which understanding the experience is important to understanding the problem. Salido states that 95% of all domestic violence victims living in the United States are women so therefore this information will reflect the women’s experience. (Salido, 2002) From the paper present Salido (2002) states that data from one study shows that police officers were less likely to arrest domestic violence offenders that are immigrants due to stereotypes that the behaver was inherent in the culture. As well as, stressors or environmental factors that particular immigrants groups face can add to the problem of domestic violence, work, school, prejudice, cultural variables, etc. Women are especially at a disadvantage when they are immigrating due to a male relative or spouse, whereas men when migrating have social networks, education, and jobs, women frequently lack this and are under isolation in terms of mobility. (Salido, 2002)

One key element that Salido talks about is that of the ability to speak the language of the new country. Women who did not speak the language in the country, or can nor learn to do so have a hard time integrating into the system. They tend to stay within a tight nit ethnic community, which is counterproductive in adopting and embracing the new culture. (Salido, 2002) This may be significant in understanding the large Arab population in Chicago, as Chicago hosts the ability for ethnic communities to form and resist integration, many people live here their whole lives and do not learn English. Women immigrating to Chicago thus are as if they are back home except more isolated. Salido states one of the consequences the language barrier carries over is that someone may be well educated and then stuck working in a laborious job for a long period of time and render their education and skills useless. (Salido, 2002) The language barrier is at the forefront for women of domestic violence making accessing help that much harder. (Salido, 2002) And Salido concludes language barriers also exacerbates the situation these women face because it limits their ability to have economic and social mobility. (Salido, 2002)

Salido (2002) states that isolation of these women with language barriers helps to further isolate them economically and socially from the larger community and hence if women then try to make connections it can create conflict in the relationship. Perhaps a conclusion that the abuser likes having this power over women. Salido states even there are cases from the research immigrant women under such predicaments have jumped from their apartment balconies to commit suicide in order to end their predicament. Salido states that no one even knew the women were there that is how isolated they were. (Salido, 2002) It might be evident that tracking suicides of women in the Arab community should be duly noted or suicidal thinking.

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Salido provides similar evidence that if women seek help or try to leave they risk being ostracized from the communities and families. That the larger immigrant communities frowns on this behavior. Because of in part of how the community is preserved. However it appears that they the immigrant community still want to reinforce the traditional social norms. (Salido, 2002) That in part women feel shamed and guilty is a major theme. (Salido, 2002) It might be good to note that, this is a major theme in the Arab community in Chicago and thus one of the biggest obstacles for women in general. That being said, one of the major theme Salido states that keeps women from coming forward is that in the United States men hold immigration status over the women, often not applying or delaying their sponsorships, and even then if they report domestic abuse he may be deported or lose his citizenship and then she is also deported if she doesn’t have a current status. (Salido, 2002) Women ability to enter into the workforce is of particular interest, being that it can either help relieve some tension and allow for her an ability to get out of the situation, but with immigrant women Salido states it shows the opposite, women are still expected to abide by traditional gender roles so they must also keep up with duties at home. The husband might chastise her, and take her money. Even as such may increase tensions in the home. For these women it is a double edge sword. (Salido, 2002) Generally the jobs these women get are low paying jobs that do not tend to give them real economic advantage.

Still women in domestic violence situations can try to apply for VAWA but often they must prove the abuse, with written records, and the courts prefer hard evidence such as police reports. For this reason many women fear coming forward, and in their predicament they may not have legal status so they cannot access social services and then the law requires she had to be in the marriage at least 3 years. (Salido, 2002)

Salido (2002) states the next major theme for immigrant women of domestic violence is that of the back home reference. In that women operate of their knowledge about how things work from the country they migrated from. This was also apparent in the research project for Arab women of domestic violence in Chicago. It was a major obstacle in helping women and in understanding the problem. Salido states that in his research it shows that women would laugh at calling police because in their home country they police wouldn’t take them seriously and that no one calls police for domestic abuse. And not only is that it discouraged by the immigrant community, even the community shows resistance in helping immigrant women of domestic violence. (Saldio, 2002)

One major issue Salido (2002) points out is that practitioners, legal advocates, and nonprofits will use the same language as the abuser often times, thus in trying to justify the abusive behavior or in defining the issues.

On another note Grewall (2009) suggest that looking at different angels of domestic violence and the issue of culture it is important to take culture into account when addressing domestic violence against Muslim women. There is a culture of “honor and shame” that can lead to domestic violence and that instead of blaming religion or culture as the cause it should be looked in the whole context rather than labeling it as the cause. Studies show that men who have been counseled in mosque were not motivated by religion but however acted on cultural norms. That women often do not want to seek help in order to protect the reputation of the Muslim communities, their families, and the abuser. Much has been said blaming minorities and certain group’s culture on the violence the women face. Women do not want their ethnicity, religion, or cultures to be frowned on. And ultimately the Quran as a source that inherently creates the belief that this paradox is permissible is often argued about. And Muslims

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take it as an attack on the religion when these stereotypes of violence of women are justified by blaming the religion or culture but ultimately culture does matter.

Barlow and Akbarzadeh (2006) look at two works written by Fatima Mernissi a Moroccan feminist who made it her lives work to write about gender inequality in the Arab and Muslim world. In the grander scheme of gender inequality in the Muslim world human rights activist and feminist like Fatima have struggled to define Muslim feminist theory and the subsets to tackle the problem of gender inequality in the Muslim and Arab world. Fatimas first solution to the problem is that a major overhaul of patriarchal values would need to take place in the Muslim and Arab world. This subset was meet with defiance as women reject the idea as going against what is considered inherently Islamic laws that define their life. It was also seen as an attempt to “westernize” roles for women from the larger society. In the latter half of her life Fatima switched roles to thus call for a reformation of how women define those roles within an Islamic concept by trying to look at the past before Islam and comparing women’s rights to that of today.

The problem with this is that Fatima like those women are negotiating how to define their identity and roles within this context that is inherently patriarchal and misogynistic. Just like in this present research, the individuals try to negotiate how the mosque or church in the Arab community “helps and hinders” women in need. Thus overall, the attitude is to try to protect Islam, the mosque, the men, the central practice of Islam as a way of life even when it gives women definitions of inequality. However Fatima states that over time that women became the corner stone of protecting the faith from western domination by becoming more restrictive on women and justifying it with Islamic concepts. “Colonialism was fully aware of the sensitive and vital role of woman in the formation of the individual and of human society. They considered her the best tool for subjugation of the nations...women serve as the unconscious accomplices of the powers-to-be in the destruction of indigenous culture... woman is the best means of destroying the indigenous culture to the benefit of imperialists.28 Protecting Muslim women from Western influences, therefore, is an essential tenet for Islamists” (Barlow & Ahkbarzeda, 2006)pg. 1490 And in conclusion to an overhaul of society’s patriarchal institutionalized gender inequality Fatima concludes that, “Changes in the twentieth century...have shown that the liberation of women is predominantly an economic issue. Liberation is a costly affair for any society, and women’s liberation is primarily a question of the allocation of resources.” (Barlow & Ahkbarzeda, 2006) pg. 1492 After all a lifetime of dedication she left the answer lingering as to how to combat this issue.

Suggestions for studying –

Female suicide rates of the Islamic faith. (Women of dv immigrants are unknown-might commit suicide if isolated and controlled. If she was killed by spouse.)

Conclusions- Still working on this.

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Implications between economic ability, social mobility, self-determined-isolation versus integration, religion and that of gender shows a recipe for Arab women of the Muslim faith to be pivotal in the institutionalized gender inequality prevalent in Muslim communities around the world and in the United States. It is possible to work with community agencies that have homeless programs already in place to find spaces for these women and to create accommodations for their needs, it’s not necessary that an all Arab facility needs to be created for Arab women only.

The women are the bridge from the past to the future when it means moving tribal Islamic cultures in to modernity. But not when insisting on separatism, this perpetuate the cyclical abuse cycle for DV victims and even perpetuates the culture of violence towards women in this community. It was reported to me during this research that honor killing is a real threat in this community that there are known women of DV that have family hits on them. So why would they want to stay in this community only? It is better to integrate them into the larger American society, given support classes to become independent and supported to stand on their own feet without feeling necessary to marry in order to survive.

Legal implications, to criminalize behavior that is counter intuitive to women’s rights, criminalizing men oppression of women in mosques, or in social sphere, not allowing women to work, get an education, forcing her to wear hijab (rather than criminalizing hijabs) things that are contradictory to western concepts of women’s rights, also, programing to get people to integrate into society, preventing large clusters of immigrant communities to flourish based on Islamic identity---based on notions of separatism and antagonist movements against western laws— this helps to prevent forming communities stuck in [poverty—which grow out of such situations--- by moving women rights up in the area and getting women to integrate into the larger American western society. First and foremost—preventing green card fraud, revoking citizenship for green card fraud offenders and their family members who benefited from the fraud. Those who commit fraud are higher risk of not following other laws in accordance to women’s rights and DV. And possibly could be viewed as a human trafficking situation as the women brought in as second wave might be forced marriages. All of which is costly to the welfare system, to keep having a cycle that is perpetual and a growing problem continue without addressing the issue.

Upon my research it became apparent that social movements that are anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, such as the resistance movement were the for-front of concern for the local mosque and at AAFS where the entire paid staff was Palestinian. They raised 1.5 million dollars in 4 hours to build a new mosque, the next following day another $400,000 for a different mosque project. But it was reported to me that that money was for Palestine by members of the community who are leaders. I questioned the fact that a community mosque that can raise 1.5 million on a regular bases to build new mosques but ignore the plight of women abused in the community in not funding even $300,000 to build or buy a homeless shelter for transitional housing if it is a real issue. The AAFS, contested that stating it is religious belief that they should raise money to send to Palestine that they need it more.

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Important Links

History of local Muslim community in Bridgeview, http://www.mosquefoundation.org/about-us/history-timeline

More detailed History of Area Arab community, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0402080265feb08-story.html#page=3

Chicago & Chicagoland Muslim Community Centers, http://www.aiamasjid.org/aia/masajidmosques-chicago-area.html

A blog about Arab History in Chicago, http://www.themediaoasis.com/profiles/profiles.htm

Article on the local Mosque, http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/01/22/threats-investigated-bridgeview-mosque/

Article http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/chicago-activist-faces-sentence-for-immigration-crime/

Article http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-travel-agent-mail-fraud-20141218-story.html

Article http://wgntv.com/2015/02/20/chicago-group-contends-local-muslims-target-of-more-hateful-actions/

Article https://books.google.com/books?id=Uk_NBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA214&lpg=PA214&dq=bridgeview,+il+muslim+crime&source=bl&ots=N71NKxT60H&sig=HiYtM86xs2JVrz-VzwRYovHTE8M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cgs3VYPoL7CasQSvqIDgBg&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=bridgeview%2C%20il%20muslim%20crime&f=false

Article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/world/americas/07iht-muslims.1.9050729.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNl6iEi4JJI

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Centers that help muslim women http://www.apiidv.org/resources/programs-serving-muslims.php

blog https://muslimstatistics.wordpress.com/

Article http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/3/first-all-female-mosque-opens-in-los-angeles.html

Article http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-u-s-census-is-trying-to-get-a-more-accurate-count-of-arab-americans/

Resources:

Arab America, http://www.arabamerica.com/illinois/

Adam, Najma M. & Schewe, Paul A. 2007. A Multilevel Framework Exploring Domestic Violence Against Immigrant Indian and Pakistani Women in the United States. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 2:5–20,

Barlow, Rebecca & Akbarzadeh, Shahram. 2006. Women’s Rights in the Muslim World: reform or reconstruction? Third World Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 8, pp 1481–1494, 2006

Bucci, Linda. 2012. An overview of the legal and cultural issues for migrant Muslim women of the European Union: A focus on domestic violence and Italy, Crime Law and Social Change http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Flib.scnu.edu.cn%2Fngw%2Fngw%2Fxwbk%2FAn%2520overview%2520of%2520the%2520legal%2520and%2520cultural%2520issues%2520for%2520migrant%2520Muslim%2520women%2520of%2520the%2520European%2520union%2520A%2520focus%2520on%2520domestic%2520violence%2520and%2520Italy.pdf&ei=-1I9VcjbJIPYggSy9oGABg&usg=AFQjCNFnwxZZm4UcnAdSbySzuZ38VIu45Q&sig2=PlwV1TaEPjL1u1ezNy0s3g&bvm=bv.91665533,d.eXY

Census, American Community Survey (ACS) Arab Households in the United State 2006 to 2010, https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CCYQFjAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%2Fprod%2F2013pubs%2Facsbr10-20.pdf&ei=Sjc9Ven0HISbNty9gMgP&usg=AFQjCNHcMSCw6X4AFuWiODSEJWrEMKl1Ug&sig2=21UMFzP16FH6tA7FJfLemg&bvm=bv.91665533,d.eXY&cad=rja

Census, Arab Population 2000, https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCwQFjAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%2Fprod%2F2003pubs%2Fc2kbr-23.pdf&ei=Sjc9Ven0HISbNty9gMgP&usg=AFQjCNEb5yBr4KvjjEtJbWz6zFwM5md5Wg&sig2=64fiPY-PNry9P8xZhla5Yg&bvm=bv.91665533,d.eXY

Grewal, Zareena. 2009. Death By Culture: How not to talk about Islam and Domestic Violence. Institute for Social Policy and Understanding

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Pew Research, http://www.journalism.org/2012/11/28/arabamerican-population-growth/

SALCIDO, CECILIA MENJÍVAR OLIVIA. 2002. IMMIGRANT WOMEN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Common Experiences in Different Countries. University of Arizona State University. Gender & Society. Sociologist for Women in Society.

Zaal, Mayida. Salah, Tahani & Fine, Michelle. 2007. The Weight of the Hyphen: Freedom, Fusion and Responsibility Embodied by Young Muslim-American Women During a Time of Surveillance. Applied Development Science 2007, Vol. 11, No. 3, 164–177

Research Instrumentation

Interview Instrument #1

My first interview is with Alias 1. A domestic violence advocate at Arab American Family Services whom works with the target population in this study on a day to day basis and is familiar with them and their needs.

Interview Guide

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Interview Guide- Introduction- Building Rapport and ease the participants Please tell me about your background?

o Probe: Are you of Arab decent an immigrant or born in America? Can you please explain to me how Arab immigrant culture is different from Arab American culture?

o Probe:  Is there anything different regarding women? Can you please tell me how long you have worked as an advocate of domestic violence?

o Probe 1: How long have you worked with female Arab immigrants?o Or Probe 2: Can you please tell me in what capacity you have worked with Arab immigrant

women of domestic violence? The problems. Transition statement- Main question-Exploration of hidden issues. (Challenges) Now that I understand a little bit about your role as an advocate working with Arab Immigrant victims of

domestic violence, can you please tell me more about challenges of working with this population?o Probe: Ok… (In order for them to add additional feedback)o Probe: Can you please describe this _________further? Provide an example or a story.o Probe: Do you see ____________ as a theme and if so, please explain it to me using a metaphor?

Main topic-self-sufficiency/cultural challenges- Can you please tell me more about female specific cultural challenges when trying to help this population?

o Probe: What about self-sufficiency?o Probe: Is that a common theme?o Probe: Can you please describe that for me by providing some examples or a story?o And please remember do not include real names or identifiable information.

What about the mental frame work of these women culturally? What I want to know is how they view the world as an Arab immigrant women?

o Probe: What is she taught her whole life to be as a women?  o Probe: What is her typical day to day life like as an Arab immigrant women?o Probe: Is she thinking in terms of dependency on others?o Probe: What does she think about independence? Have these women talked about what

independence is to them?o Probe: What do these women think self-sufficiency is? Has this idea been explored with women?

Can you tell me what your experiences are with this issue? Sociogram: (do not say) Transition Statement: Now I would like to see about how these women interact with institutions in their

community. Main Topic- social distance Can you please describe the experience a typical women has when she is in need of social services?

o Probe: Does she seek services at any agency or institution in the community? What kind of institution? Please explain.

o And/or Probe 2: What about Arab institutions in the community e.g. community centers, community agencies, religious institutions e.g. a mosque or church? Which ones? Can you please tell me what you know about those experiences?

o Can you tell me how they view those institutions, positively, or negatively?o Would they go to institutions in their community for help? Which ones and why? Which’s ones

will they not go to and why? Can you please explain or illustrate a story to describe the typical experience of a women seeking help from

others in the Arab community?o Probe: Do they experience shame? And how?o Probe: What is the experience of the women who try to get consultation and/or help from their

religious community? Can you please use a story to illustrate this?o Probe: What is the women’s experience when dealing with family? What happens then?o Probe: Do these women face abandonment or being disowned when seeking help?o Probe: What happens to these women when they need help? What are some of the challenges and

unique consequences they suffer?

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o Probe: Anything you would like to add to this topic? What does seek helping behavior look like from an Arab immigrant women? Transitional statement: We have covered some of the problems and challenges faced by these women and

for you as advocates, now I would like to move on to some questions that can help to explore solutions. Main Topic. Solutions—finding the unique solution for this target population. Since you work closely with this population you are more familiar with their experiences and request for

help. Can you please tell me from your experience with them what kind of support do they need to move from a bad situation into a stable situation?

o Probe: What if they don’t have a support system? Can you please explain?o Probe: What is necessary for these women to do in order to establish a life as an independent

women?o Probe: What kind of things do they need to become self-sufficient?o Probe: For a women in need who finds herself in a situation of need, what challenges has she

faced in her new life? Please explain.o Probe: What kind of support do they need to transition to a new life, one of independence?o Probe: What is most common challenge with trying to help women in this population to transition

to independence?o Probe: What resources have been most beneficial? Least beneficial? Explain.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Goal The purpose of/or aim of the interview is to break the ice and try to get a wide swath of information regarding this topic to better understand the different issues, the problem and trying to find the solutions or needs. This will help to identify issues that contribute to the problem as well help to better understand the needs.

 Interview Instrument #2

My second interview is with Alias 2. A domestic violence advocate at Arab American Family Services whom works with the target population in this study on a day to day basis and is familiar with them and their needs.

Interview Guide:

Intro: Now can you please tell me about your background? Buffer: Can you tell me please, can you please explain to me how Arab immigrant culture is different from

Arab American culture?o Can you please tell me how long you have worked as an advocate of domestic violence?o Can you please tell me in what capacity you have worked with the Arab immigrant women of DV,

what capacity, what fashion? Problems: Can you please tell me more about the challenges of working with this population?

o Can you please describe the situation by giving me an example or story?o Can you please describe the experience a typical women has when she is in need of social

services? Social Distance: Does she seek services from any agency or institutions in the community?

o What about Arab institutions in the community, example community centers, community agencies, religious institutions, like mosques or churches, which ones would they approach, and can you please tell me about those experiences when they approach them?

o Can you please explain or illustrate a story to describe a typical experience of women seeking help from others in the Arab community either an institution or from family, in this situation of DV?

o What about shame and labels, do women experience shame and labels in DV situations?

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o And when a women wants to leave her abuser does she face abandonment and her family doesn't want her, is she disowned, can you tell me more about that?

Culture: Can you please tell me about the female specific cultural challenges, what are the cultural needs of these women that are not in the programs that exist? Do you find that an issue?

o Can you tell me about what about self-sufficiency, can you tell me a story or an example of self-sufficiency for women of domestic violence here?

o Since you work closely with this population and you are familiar with their experience and their request for help, can you please tell from your experience with them what kind of support do they need to move from a bad situation to a stable situation?

How is race and ethnicity and identity important, oh somebody told me because you’re not white you don’t get the same privileges or resources as white people, and allot of Arabs are classified as white, is that an issue or barrier to programs.

Goal

To find out if more of the same information from what the first interviewee told me. Basically to focus on the needs, what information will help to make programs better? Mainly, I feel it is cultural needs, religious needs, and barriers created by their specific location in life, information that will help to understand their needs.  I am interested in the women seeking help from religious institutions and the social antagonism around gender. Also, the idea of identity, race classification, and what that means. How is the culture different? I also wanted to understand the issues with programs according to this culture. And I really want to try and distinguish between Arab immigrants and Arab Americans.  What resources have been most beneficial for them?

Focus Group Instrument #4

Focus GroupIntroduction: My name is Candace Metcalf a Graduate Student at Sam Houston State University. I am conducting a focus group that is aimed at helping me answer the research question “How does understanding culture and identity do to help Arab women of Domestic Violence?” Participation in this research is voluntary, you may refuse to answer any questions you don’t wish to answer or end the participation at any time. The information collected in this research will be used to help answer the research question and will be kept in strict confidence, your identities will not be revealed to anyone, only the analyzed data will be used for this graduate research project. Do you agree to continue with these terms? [Participants speak] For the purpose of this research do not reveal any names or identifiable information. This is in order to protect you and others from harm in regards to this research. [Participants speak]

Purpose: The purpose of this focus group is to explore ideas related to the research question, “How understanding culture and identity do to help Arab women of Domestic Violence?” There are things that you might be familiar with that can help explore the culture and identity of these women that can be useful in answering the research question. For the purpose of this focus group I would like to focus on culture and identity of these women from an Arab Immigrant Mans perspective.

Population: Arab Immigrant Men in area.

Questions:

My name is Candace as you all know. I am very familiar with the Arab culture. I am in graduate school and am extremely passionate about research. I also am interested in the idea of how people tell their own stories. For the purpose of this research it is a discussion between you the participants and I will be the moderator. I will ask questions and follow up questions. Your role is to answer these questions between yourself. If you all can please stay within around 5 minutes for each question each.

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I would like you to begin by introduce yourself without saying your name, give us a little bit of a background of who you are and what you are passionate about, and tell us one thing that is important to you in Arab culture and please explain.

Can you all please tell me what Arab men consider abuse in a relationship with a women? Can you tell me please if a women is in an abusive situation how should it be resolved? Can you please explain what shame means to men in your culture? Can you please tell me how tribalism relates to a situation of abuse? If a women in your village back home tries to get police involved what does that mean for her? Can you think of any good solutions to help these women? Now here in the USA when women come here as immigrant wives and if they are abused what should they do? Thank you all for participating in this discussion. I would like to ask if there is anything that is important you would like

to add to the conversation?

None Participant Observation Instrument #3

Location: Popular Community Grocery Store “Shop and Save”Target Population: Arab Women in Bridgeview, IL

Observation Report

Justification: My justification for using this location for observation is that I live in a community that is an enclave of Arabs. So it is highly populated and the population is visible. I wanted to see what I can learn about these Arab women in public, their public presence. Furthermore, because Domestic Violence is hidden or behind closed doors it’s not likely to get a good environment to learn about this in observation. I thought about going to DV support groups but I felt that it would be far too invasive, unethical and there would be a lot of barriers to programs and hence they would not allow an outsider to come in for a research observation for privacy concerns. So for me a neutral place in public such as the local popular market I can see women without interacting with them. For this reason I also wanted to focus on physical presence in understanding gender roles in public. As a lot of the information I gathered focuses on shame, women’s place in society in social stratification. It appears a major theme unraveling in my research is the traditional division of labor “culture specific gender roles” verses “present day American gender roles.” According to this community it appears to share traditional division of labor gender roles found in the immigrant populations native countries. This helps to answer my research questions in the sense I can get a better understanding of women’s identity in public and how that might play into the story. How they are portrayed in public can make an impact on their situations. My aim is to learn how women appear in public. The idea behind this exercise also related to my research question “How does understanding culture and identity help Arab women of Domestic Violence?” This helps us to understand how women are in public spaces.

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