1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of GBV [gender-based violence] among female refugees and asylum seekers referred to a specialized tertiary care clinic, in order to improve clinical care. Specific study objectives were to: (1) describe the proportion of GBV related experiences among female refugees/asylum seekers referred to a Cultural Consultation Service (CCS) in Montreal; (2) describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the women who made GBV their principal refugee claim; and (3) compare features to women who claimed refugee status for other reasons.» (p. 204)

Questions/Hypothèses :
Authors «hypothesized that refugee women with a GBV refugee claim would be more likely than women without such a claim to: (1) prefer a language other than French or English; (2) immigrate alone without their families; (3) have a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); (4) have a diagnosis of depression; and 4) express suicidal ideation or behavior.» (p. 204)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The study sample included the charts of all women who were accepted as refugees, or were refugee claimants, and who had been referred to the Cultural Consultation Service (CCS) at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Canada, from January 2000 until June 2013. […] The CCS database contained 170 records of women, 130 of whom were 18−65 years of age. Of these, 91 were refugee applicants or accepted refugees. The charts of these 91 refugee women were reviewed for this study […].» (p. 204)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«The first relevant and unexpected finding in this study was that 80% (73/91) of the total sample reported gender-based violence. Furthermore, more than one third of the female refugee claimants in this study reported GBV as the principal reason for seeking refugee status in Canada, mainly citing IPV as the type of GBV they had suffered […]. [These] women mostly came from Latin America, South Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa alone and without their families. Most were single or divorced, were unemployed, isolated, and relied on friends and religion for support. […] Other refugee women […] who remain embedded in their family and social context report GBV, and IPV more specifically, much less often as reasons for their refugee claim, even though they could have claimed refugee status on this basis. Women in these predicaments are forced into a difficult negotiation in which they save social face and keep their families intact by minimizing the expression of their suffering. The social cost of divulging that they were raped or abused by police or other men may be too high, so they may remain silent and unforthcoming even to the point of undermining their refugee claim. They more often fall into depression but refrain from harming themselves or blaming family members possibly to preserve family honor, harmony, and integrity.» (p. 209)