Asian Indian Women: Domestic Violence, Mental Health, and Sites of Resilience

ABSTRACT

Culture is foundational to human experiences. As such, different cultural contexts and systems create different realities and lived experiences. Psychological knowledge and experiences within this context are then subject to socio-cultural systems, historical events, the distribution of economic and political power, and privileged positions of people within the system. This article highlights Asian Indian women’s lived experiences with domestic violence and their ways of healing. In particular, we present personal, political, social, and cultural factors that contribute to vulnerability and resilience in Indian women both in India and within the diaspora and note the role of community as an important indigenous source of healing.

KEYWORDS:

• Asian Indian diaspora
• Asian Indian women
• domestic violence
• socio-political-cultural factors

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Hannah Bashian for her assistance with this manuscript.