Migration and attitudes towards domestic violence against women: a case study of Libyan migrants in the UK

ABSTRACT

This article analyses attitudes to domestic violence against women (DVAW) among Libyan migrants in the north of England; this is the first such study of Libyan migrants. One hundred seventy-five (175) respondents were interviewed in a questionnaire survey and 20 in semi-structured interviews. Migrant status has been identified as an important marker or precarity; gendered and racialised experiences deepen structural forms of insecurity. The research explored the impact of migration on participants’ attitudes to DVAW. The concepts of gender regime and gender order, additionally, help to provide a framework for understanding of the multifaceted nature of unequal gender relations within Libyan Arab communities. The study found that gender and educational level were the most important variables associated with views about DVAW within the sample, whereas length of stay in the UK was not statistically associated with attitudes towards domestic violence. The article explores reasons for relative continuity in beliefs about DVAW in the context of the insecurities of migration. Despite continuities, shifts and changes are taking place within many women’s lives.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic Violence Against Women (DVAW)
• Libyan migrants
• gender regimes and gender orders
• insecurity and precarity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. According to the Libyan Census Report (2006), 14.3% of Libyan women and 15.66% of Libyan men obtained `higher` levels of qualification i.e. ranging from post 16 to university level.

2. Of the remainder of women sampled who were employed, 7.4% were in professional or managerial jobs (including working as doctors); 6.8% in food and transport sectors and the rest were in ‘other’ sectors.

Additional information

Funding

The research on which this article was based, was supported by a grant for PhD research by the Ministry of Higher Education, Government of Libya (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya).

Notes on contributors

Suaad El-Abani

Dr. Suaad Mohamed El-Abani is Head of Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts at the University of Tripoli, Libya. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK in 2015, on the topic of attitudes to domestic violence against women within a Libyan migrant community. She is particularly interested in social theories, and in theories of gender and stratification.

Susie Jacobs

Dr. Susie Jacobs is Reader in Comparative Sociology at the Manchester Metropolitan University. She has published widely in gender and development studies, particularly concerning gender, land reforms and land rights; gender and globalisation and on gender, violence and armed conflicts. Recent publications include: Jacobs, S. (2017) “Beneficial for Women? Recent trends in gender, land and titling“ in B. Bock & S. Shortall (eds) Gender and Rural Globalization, CABI International; and Jacobs, S., Brahic, B. with Medusa Olaiya, M. (2015) “Sexual Harassment in an east African agribusiness supply chain“ The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 26(3): 393-410.

Kathryn Chadwick

Dr. Kathryn Chadwick is Principal Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the Manchester Metropolitan University. Her main areas of research focus on gendered processes of criminalisation and punishment; challenging state injustices; and penology and critical criminology. Recent publications include Clarke, B. & Chadwick, K. (2018) “From 'troubled' women to failing institutions: Necessary narrative shifts in decarceration of women post-Corston“ in L. Moore et al. (eds) Women's Imprisonment and the Case for Abolition: Critical reflections on Corston ten years on, Routledge: and Clarke, B., Chadwick, K. & Williams, P. (2017) “Critical social research as a site of 'resistance'“ J. of Justice, Power and Resistance, 1(2).

Shoba Arun

Dr. Shoba Arun is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University. She researches and publishes in the areas of gender and development, skilled migration and global societies. Recent publications include Arun, S. (2017) Development and Gender Capital in India: Change, Continuity and Conflict in Kerala, Routledge (Asian Series) and Arun, S. (2018) “All about my Skills: not Me or Mine: Vignettes of Precarity among Skilled Indian Professionals in Britain“ in S.I. Rajan, (ed) Indian Migration Report 2018.