Intimate partner violence disclosure among Muslim-Americans: a survey study of disclosure likelihood to varying networks and the roles of relational context, religiosity, and marginalization

ABSTRACT

This study examined the roles of relational context, religiosity, and marginalization in Muslim-American adults’ (N = 314) disclosure of intimate partner violence (IPV). Participants responded to scenarios involving IPV perpetrated by Muslim or non-Muslim partners. When IPV perpetrators were non-Muslim, disclosure likelihood was higher to non-Muslim networks (e.g., law enforcement, non-Muslim friends), whereas when perpetrators were Muslim, disclosure likelihood was higher to Muslim networks (e.g., family members, Muslim shelters). Religiosity was positively associated with disclosure likelihood to Muslim networks, but negatively associated with disclosure likelihood to non-Muslim networks. This pattern of association was most pronounced in the Muslim partner scenario. For Muslim and non-Muslim partners, marginalization was negatively associated with IPV disclosure likelihood to law enforcement and, unexpectedly, family members. In the non-Muslim perpetrator scenario only, marginalization was negatively linked to disclosure to Muslim friends. Results support interventions involving tailored disclosure conditions, enhanced culture-based training, and stronger secular and faith-based organizational partnerships.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• intimate partner violence
• intrafaith relationships
• Islam
• Muslim-Americans

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The literature that investigates IPV among Muslims focuses mostly on male perpetration toward female survivors. This is not surprising given that women are more likely than men to experience IPV. Consequently, very little is known about male IPV survivorship. It is noteworthy, though, that religious teachings emphasizing obedience to husbands might actually deter both women and men from disclosing IPV survivorship as Muslim males may find it extremely face-threatening to admit ‘disobedience’ from their spouse (Siraj, 2014).