Running head: Determinants of Intimate Partner Violence Among Immigrant Women in 1

Canada

Call for Abstract: The 21st National Metropolis Conference: Doing Immigration Differently

Determinants of Intimate Partner Violence Among Immigrant Women in Canada

Workshop

Collins Nwabunike

University of Calgary
Running head: Determinants of Intimate Partner Violence Among Immigrant Women in 2

Canada

Abstract

Immigrant women are the most vulnerable victims of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), yet
studies that examine the causal factors of immigration and IPV are conspicuously missing in the
literature. To fill this void, this workshop determines the factors associated with IPV among
women born outside of Canada and Canadian-born women.

Work Summary

Purpose
Immigrant women are the most vulnerable victims of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), as
they face numerous barriers that prevent them from reporting and seeking services. Some of these
barriers can be due to isolation, not knowing of available resources, language barriers, and fear of
losing immigration status/deportation. Many of these issues have been failed to be brought forward
as studies that examine the causal factors of immigration status and IPV are conspicuously missing
in the literature.

Method
To fill this void, data from the 2015 General Social Survey (GSS), a national cross-
sectional telephone survey was analyzed. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to
determine the factors associated with IPV (physical, sexual and/or emotional) among women born
outside of Canada and Canadian-born women (n = 17,955).

Result
Results indicate that women born outside of Canada are statistically significantly less likely
to report the experience of IPV. Furthermore, women who are not married were statistically
significantly more likely to experience IPV. Also, the result indicates statistically significant
relationships between sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables such as age, visible
minority status and income on the likelihood of IPV among women.

Conclusion
This workshop highlights the need for integration of specific interventions for immigrant
women to effectively address problems of IPV in Canada.