Cultural Responsivity in Domestic Violence Intervention Approaches for Immigrants in the U.S.

October CVR Evidence Hour webinar:  While all communities can experience domestic violence, immigrants are at a higher risk of victimization due to their unique positionality in the United States. Even though empirical research has examined mainstream domestic violence interventions and the extent to which they deter victimization, there is limited knowledge about culturally responsive interventions for immigrants. In this webinar, presenters will highlight findings of their scoping review about culturally responsive interventions for immigrants in the U.S. Presenters will also reflect on their experiences as practitioners and researchers who have been engaged in developing and implementing culturally responsive interventions for immigrants. They hope to highlight micro, mezzo and macro level implications for practitioners engaged in service delivery.

Objectives: 

• To understand the need for culturally responsive services for immigrants experiencing domestic violence
• To examine the extent to which culturally responsive interventions exist for immigrant communities in the context of domestic violence
• To deliberate on the role of practitioners while engaging with immigrants experiencing domestic violence
• Understand the difference between cultural responsivity and cultural competency
• Highlight overall implications for research, practice and policy drawing from our scoping review

Presenters:

Abha Rai, Ph.D., MSW is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago. Her area of primary research interest relates to culturally responsive ways of engaging with immigrant communities. Specifically, she focuses on the issues of well-being, domestic violence and the impact of immigration policies on immigrant communities. By utilizing a community-centered research approach, she aims to further social justice and directly serve communities she works with.

Kristen Ravi, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the College of Social Work, University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Her program of research primarily focuses on children’s exposure to parental intimate partner violence and their social, mental health, and academic outcomes. Her other research interests include IPV help seeking, IPV among immigrants and refugees and survivors’ experiences of transportation coercion.

Radhika Sharma Gordon is a public health educator and nonprofit consultant who has worked in the Chicago area for more than 30 years. She is the Manager of Outreach and Education at Apna Ghar, a multi-service agency addressing gender-based violence in immigrant, refugee, and other marginalized communities. Radhika earned her Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan in 1989, majoring in Health Behavior and Health Education. Her work has focused on community health, violence prevention, immigrant rights, and feminist organizing. Radhika has served on the Board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and the Chicago Foundation for Women. She brings an interdisciplinary approach to her training and advocacy work. She has served as a training and planning consultant and a technical assistance provider to a variety of programs and agencies. Radhika is also an Adjunct Instructor at Northeastern Illinois University where she coordinates the undergraduate Community Health Sciences field placement program.

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