Arab Women who are seeking counseling can encounter numerous difficulties. First and foremost more recent immigrants, and women who have been unable to receive an education, face language barriers when trying to receive help from services. This barrier may make women afraid or intimidated to seek help. Arab immigrants are also inclined to keep problems of domestic abuse within the family. They feel that this issue is to be consulted by family members or members of the religious community in order to keep their honor. 1 In a study done by Abu-Ras in 2007, women with more traditional values toward women and wife beating are less likely to take advantage of formal services to address partner abuse.
There is also the problem of services having language skills that will meet the needs of the Arab community. The same kind of problem happens with counselor matching, which means Arab women may not feel comfortable dealing with a non-Arab who in unfamiliar with their culture and lifestyle, however this can go the opposite way and some Arab women feel it is better to talk to a counselor who is non-Arab as they feel their situation would be taken more seriously. 2
According to a study done with Arab immigrants in Michigan, there are varying ways Arab women want to deal with their domestic abuse and who they want to help them with their case and counseling. There is also the case of the counselors themselves who are unable to conceptualize how Arab culture works and are unable to give appropriate counseling that suits the needs of Arab immigrants. 3In this study Arab clients, were asked if they should be ethnically matched with a counselor and the disadvantages and advantages were noted.
Advantages of being ethnically matched: 66% of women in the study felt being ethically matched is ideal as the counselor will not need to be educated about the victims culture nor need to have the victim describe their view on marriage, divorce, and beliefs. Having the ability to share similar situations and experiences with the counselor or service provider allows getting to the main problem faster in a more efficient manner. Many women dealing with domestic violence crisis do not want to face more barriers in the counseling process. Arab immigrants also felt that dealing with domestic violence issues with ethnic matching counselors made them feel safer, and build more trust, where women could talk badly about their culture, religion, and home life without feeling apologetic, or feeling like they are now forced to leave their husbands or their community.
Some believe that when dealing with American counselors feel that they are too eager to encourage divorce rather then to try to remedy the problem and preserve family life. Where Arab counselor would work with clients to preserve cultural values and would use services within the clients Arab community, including mosques, churches, and community services. This is important as the Arab culture is centered very much within the community and people usually do not look outside of it for assistance and resources. [79]
Disadvantages:
Arab Immigrant women when dealing with ethnically matched counselors say that the main disadvantage is dealing with confidentiality. Clients may be nervous because they do not understand the rules of confidentiality agreements and are afraid that the counselor may disclose information to the others in their community. Arab communities are often small and tight knit leaving the clients nervous to divulge information to their counselor, afraid that it would be passed along like gossip.
Other clients may not fear confidentiality but as the counselor and client are both ethnically the same, the client may blur the lines of counselor and friend, and may have mutual friends or social circles. In this case some clients prefer to have a non-Arab counselor to insure that their lives remain anonymous. [80]
Another issue with services
Post 9/11 Atmosphere
Since the September 11 attacks the few women who tried to seek help for domestic abuse were seeking mental health assistance and even fewer sought help from police or specialized agencies. This is due to the fact that anti- Arab sentiments increased since the attacks and many women now fear that going to the police or other agencies for help will provoke political harassment and backlash against them in their communities from friends and family members. [Abu-Ras 2007, 1003]
