Domestic violence among Korean-American immigrants

Korean-Americans represent the fifth-largest group among Asian Americans, amounting to 1,076,872 living in the United States. Within the U.S, Korean-Americans have become associated as a "model minority", meaning that their lives are stable and problem-free. However, the rise of concern for domestic violence within Korean-American immigrants came to light during the 1980s in which several reports of physical abuse by Korean-American husbands to their wives were reported. According to the National Violence Against Women study, 60% of Korean-American women reported physical abuse or to be living in domestically violent households. The U.S Department of Justice defines domestic violence as violent crimes acted out by current or former spouses. In order to find out why statistics in domestic violence were so high in Korean-immigrant families, several studies have been conducted to discover contributing factors that have led to domestic violence. Many researchers have developed a theoretical framework surrounding the problem of wife abuse in Korean immigrant families through recognizing the ways in which patriarchy shapes gender roles and expectations. Similar to other male-dominated societies, Korean society is a society in which women are expected to be caretakers, submissive to their husbands, and subordinate to men in general. Traditional and conservative perspectives on a woman's role in society are threatened by the rise of feminism and the increasing number of women partaking in roles that fall outside of the patriarchal paradigm.
Predicators of domestic violence
Korean-American immigrant women in more conservative families are more likely to experience domestic violence within their lives than in less conservative families. Income, religion, acculturation, alcohol abuse, and physical assault are all predicators to domestic violence. Through several studies, results have showed that Korean immigrants who experienced physical assault as children were more likely to tolerate acts of violence from their spouse in adulthood. It has been noted that 80.2 percent of Korean immigrant batterers were also exposed to parental abuse in their childhood which was a commonality found in many of the incidences involving Korean-American men who had assaulted their wives.
Assimilation to American society can become a trigger for stress and tension within the household, in which these negative feelings are taken out by men onto their wives. Attitudes of Korean immigrant men who were less acculturated and less educated than other more acculturated Korean immigrant men were more likely to tolerate pro-violent perspectives. In addition, first and second generation Korean immigrants often come into conflict with one another based on explicit and implicit cultural differences within the United States. Korean-American families experience difficulties surrounding immigration from Korea as they face the challenge of two cultural worlds, both that embody patriarchal societies.
Adjusting to American life as first generation immigrants places Korean-American immigrants in more vulnerable positions, especially in terms of a language barrier between Korean-immigrants and Americans. Due to the lack of resources for recent generations of Korean immigrants, language has influenced the availability of opportunities for jobs and economic growth. Korean immigrant men, who traditionally are to be the providers of the family, are not only feeling incompetent in the United States' work force, but are also having to rely on their wives involvement in the workforce as well, a role that is uncommon for women in patriarchy. Traditionally, the family dynamic in Korean families have marital roles similar to other patriarchal societies in which a husband earns the living, and his wife serves a domestic role. Although Korean immigrants are amongst the most highly educated immigrants within the U.S, many families have found themselves to be in work revolving liquor stores, dry cleaning, and gas stations. These family-owned small businesses require much hard work which researchers believe lead to an increased amount of stress and tension within the household. The extended work hours, menial employment capability, lack of translated resources, and the lack of self-esteem are highly correlated to emotional stress. Furthermore, due to the economic problems that Korean immigrant families face, women are partaking in the labor force, improving their status as women and therefore threatening the traditional outlook on how they should be performing their gender role.
The new confrontation of marital roles in Korean immigrant families has significantly weakened the power imbalance between husband and wife, creating a bigger risk for built up anger lashed out on wives through physical and verbal abuse. Although Korean immigrant women have greater potential for new independence, many Korean men, who like other men benefit from the structure of a male-dominated society, still hold traditional attitudes of power relations between men and women. There is strong empirical support for the correlation between domestic violence and the pressure of assimilating to a new country such as seen within studies on Korean immigrant families. For example, Shin (1995) found that Korean batterers experienced higher levels of immigration stress such as under employment than nonbatterers. Another researcher, Song (1992) found that there was a significant relationship between wife abuse and discrepancy in the pre-immigration and post-immigration employment status of Korean immigrant men.
Another predicator of domestic violence that was found common amongst Korean immigrant relationships is heavy alcohol intake by Korean immigrant men. In a 1998 study, Chi found that unlike other Asian American groups, dependence on alcohol and alcohol abuse were strikingly high among Korean-American males in Los Angeles. In addition, among Asian Americans, Koreans held the greatest number of arrests for driving under the influence in the Los Angeles county. In the same study it was found that alcohol abuse was amongst the most significant correlations to divorce due to husband battering. Shin (1995)'s study believed that the high levels of consumption of alcohol by Korean men were due to related levels of stress previously discussed such as marital satisfaction, financial struggles, and issues with acculturation. The study showed that 70.6% of women reported that their male partners had consumed alcohol and 41.2% stated that their male partners had an abnormal dependence on alcohol as well. Alcohol consumption becomes a problematic correlation in domestic violent relationships due to the fact that victims will forgive the abusers under the impression that their actions are excused by being intoxicated. It therefore becomes dangerous to use alcohol as an excuse for violent acts occurring to women at the hands of their husbands.
Under-reporting of domestic violence
American society views Asian Americans as a "model minority" discouraging research and help-seeking behavior in domestic violence. Asian immigrants are heavily overlooked by social services because of the stereotype of the "model minority" and therefore are not granted as much access to helpful resources to overcome verbal and physical violence within the household. In addition, language barriers becomes another factor for Korean-American immigrant women. There are not enough translators or those familiar with alternative approaches to helping Korean-American women come out of their abusive relationships. Korean immigrant women receive less opportunity to find help due to the scarcity of organizations that are both culturally appropriate and language-specific.
In addition, Korean culture emphasizes the importance of keeping what occurs in the family private. According to research, most of the police reports concerning domestic violence in the Korean-immigrant community is not from the victims themselves, but rather from neighbors or relatives of the victims. Seeking help from outside resources instills a fear of stigmatization and shame in Korean immigrant women, discouraging them to talk to anyone about their abuse. Due to a traditional belief in family privacy, disclosing problems in their relationship to others is seen as weak and deteriorating to the family name. This practice has negative consequences on Korean-immigrant women as social services and other outlets that help women in these kinds of situations are not aware of the high numbers of abuse within Korean immigrant relationships.
Isolation has been a huge influential factor in the small number of reports made for domestic violence. Most Korean-American women are isolated as immigrants, living far away from their families but close to their husband's family. This ensures a greater reliance on their husbands for economic necessity. Due to this, the likelihood of leaving the relationship is decreased. The role of in laws also can contribute to intimate partner violence as social science literature discusses immigration abuse from the husband's family including threats of deportation and losing custody of children. Although women have increased opportunity in participating in the workforce, the shift of their gender role causes greater conflict by changing the power dynamic between her and her husband. This tension then further creates an isolated environment for Korean immigrant women in which they are rejected from both their country of origin's practices and their "new" country's practices. The alienation from both Korean and American societal expectations places Korean-immigrant women in vulnerable positions and further encourages them not to speak out on their experiences as victims of domestic abuse.
Activism
Shelters for victims of domestic violence has been proven to help combat intimate partner violence. Thus far, shelters lack the necessary resources to accommodate for immigrant abuse due to lack of sufficient language and knowledge about Korean culture. However, several shelters work specifically towards helping Asian American women find shelter and safety in leaving domestic violent relationships. In 1982, the New York Asian Women's Center was established and works with individual Asian American immigrants to help them out of their abusive relationships. Their services include providing safe homes for victims, as well as opening their own homes to family members wanting to escape their violent households. The National Korean American Coalition to End Domestic Abuse is another organization that works together with other organizations to prevent and put an end to the domestic abuse in Korean-immigrant families. The NKACEDA was created in 2014 and hopes to expand national network of Korean American domestic violence organizations, share the best ways to serve the Korean American community members who are in abusive relationships, and identify the ways in which all members can be culturally responsive to the Korean-immigrant community.
It is common for social service agencies to help survivors with leaving their abusive relationships, as well as finding asylum for victims of domestic abuse. However, the approach of social services is the same process for all victims, which leaves many Korean-immigrants without the proper help that they need. It is essential for future organizations to become more educated in how patriarchal societies can influence responses to domestic violence and therefore recognize the ways it affects women's ability to receive help. Though shelters are helping women find a place to go once they leave their husbands, it does not suppress domestic violence itself, which is heavily weighed on traditional and conservative attitudes on male and female gender roles. With the rise of feminism and women's independence both in Korea and the United States, it is likely that there will be changes to how social services and organizations work to serve Korean-immigrant women facing domestic violence.

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