The obstacles South Asian victims of spousal violence endure in Vancouver, Canada: culture vs. the extended family vs. the law

South Asian family violence is a unique social problem largely based on cultural beliefs and social stigmas, which lead to the persistent unequal treatment of women in the South Asian community. Policies are typically intended for protecting women’s fundamental individual rights as in the VAWIR policy and the RCMP’s policies. However, there is an apparent disconnect between policies and actual procedure. The goals of this exploratory study are multi-layered, but the overarching goal was to identify the different factors that are unique to South Asian family violence in Vancouver, as set out by key participant interviews. These appear to be largely rooted in cultural practices and beliefs that most of the respondents expressed during the course of this study. The power and control theory is employed to gain insight into family violence power struggles.