Domestic violence study women’s right an issue for group of male refugees

EXCLUSIVE: Australians should show “cultural­ sensitivity’’ to migrant men who bash their wives and children, according to taxpayer-funded study. Many victims feel scared to act, an advocate said.

Tamana Mirzada is national co-ordinator of the Shakti Australia women's assistance service, which provides help for women in migrant communities who are victims of domestic violence. Picture: Toby Zerna

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AUSTRALIANS should show “cultural­ sensitivity’’ to migrant men who resent women’s rights and bash their wives and children, a taxpayer-funded study says.

The three-year study, funded by the Australian Research Council, concludes: “Many refugees see some human rights, in particular those relating to women and children’s rights, as detrimental to their successful settlement in Australia.’’

It says some refugees argue “women’s and child’s rights contravene the cultural values, norms and mores” of their ethnic groups.

Prevention of Domestic Violence­ Minister Pru Goward.

Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash.

But federal Minister for Women Michaelia Cash yesterday warned bluntly there were “no excuses’’ for family violence in Australia.

“Violence against women is unacceptable in any circumstances,’’ she told The Saturday Telegraph.

State Prevention of Domestic Violence­ Minister Pru Goward echoed­ that sentiment, demanding wife-bashers “change their ways’’.

The cultural clash is exposed in the University of NSW Centre for Refugee Research study, which found some male refugees lash out at wives and children when they suffer a “loss of status and masculinity’’.

The study calls for “cultural sensitivity and understanding of the impact on male refugees and … feelings of alienation and disappointment’’.

“Sometimes the men will keep their passports and will be in charge of the financial resources.”

While refugees are grateful for “peace, freedom, healthcare and education’’, the report says, the issue of women’s and children’s rights is the “major point of contention’’.

It cites the “uncomfortable truth that while some refugees might dislike these rights, they are in fact enshrined in Australian law”.

The research coincides with a migrant­ backlash against the Turnbull government’s plan to include “Australian values’’ in the citizenship test.

The Settlement Council of Australia has accused the government of “racial profiling’’ for quizzing would-be citizens about domestic violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

Seeking help to prevent domestic violence is stigmatised in some refugee communities, Ms Mirzada said. Picture: Toby Zerna

Most of Australia’s refugees­ last year came from the Middle East and Africa, where forced child marriage and female genital mutilation are practised.

The UNSW research, provided to a federal parliamentary inquiry into migrant settlement, warns “ignoring the men could further inflame’’ domestic violence.

It says refugee women who ­“access rights beyond their wild­est dreams” are often subject to the ­“additional and severe trauma of domestic violence and community disapproval”.

Refugee children who try to live their lives like Australian children “are cruelly punished’’.

Shakti migrant women’s support group national co-ordinator Tamana Mirzada said many victims were scared to get help and some were not aware they could get a divorce.

“Often they don’t have the capacity­ to leave,’’ Ms Mirzada said yesterday.

“Sometimes the men will keep their passports and will be in charge of the financial resources in the household so the woman becomes dependant on the partner.

“Seeking help is stigmatised and they don’t want the community to think something is wrong with their marriage.’’

Ms Cash said the federal government was working to improve the support available to migrant women.