Cultural Barriers to the Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse in Asian Communities: Listening to What Women Say
Abstract
There is apparent under-reporting of child sexual abuse in Britain’s Asian communities and a varied capacity amongst professionals to respond with cultural competence. Professional approaches originate in cultural contexts, which are often different from those of most British Asians. If the proportion of children and non-abusing carers from Asian communities who access relevant services is to increase, professionals need to develop better understandings of cultural imperatives which determine behaviour in those communities. Consultations with Asian women in Bradford reinforce the view that culturally competent practice and respectful dialogue are essential to the protection of children. They also highlight a number of recurring themes. Members of Asian communities are aware of child sexual abuse, they recognize that the issue needs to be addressed by all communities and they report that many of those affected within their own communities have found it difficult to access relevant services. These consultations, like reports of similar work elsewhere, indicate that difficulties, which appear to arise from Asian women’s fears about how agencies will respond, are frequently compounded by the impact of cultural imperatives arising from izzat (honour/respect), haya (modesty) and sharam (shame/embarrassment), which have a considerable influence on how many will behave.
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Cultural influences play a significant role in shaping how female survivors from South Asian communities interpret their trauma responses, involving fears of dishonouring the family.
“For instance, cultural influences play a significant role in shaping how female survivors from South Asian communities interpret their trauma responses, involving fears of dishonouring the family.”
From ‘We don’t talk about that around here’: an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of South Asian male survivors’ experiences of childhood sexual abuse in the UK (2025) · cites this paper as [36]
In “What did women say?” (page unavailable), participants describe fear that disclosing child sexual abuse would bring shame to the family and damage a daughter’s izzat. This supports the role of cultural concerns about family honour, but the paper examines disclosure and responses to abuse, not specifically how female survivors interpret their trauma responses. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredStrict prohibitions on open discussions of sexuality meant many survivors in this study struggled to disclose their experiences and access support.
“In line with this research, strict prohibitions on open discussions of sexuality meant many survivors in this study struggled to disclose their experiences and access support [36].”
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“These cultural factors impact on how individuals navigate and disclose their experiences [28–30, 36, 37].”
- Authors
- Gilligan, P., & Akhtar, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Bradford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gilligan, P.
- ORCID
- Akhtar, S.
- Venue
- British Journal of Social Work
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2005-11-18
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1361-1377
- ISSN
- 0045-3102 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-263X
- OpenAlex
- W2118144763
- Cited by
- 170
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 1.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The British Journal of Social Work (publishedVersion)
- Bradford Scholars (University of Bradford) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Keywords
- child sexual abuse, disclosure, Asian communities, cultural barriers, underreporting, cultural competence, izzat, Haya, honor and shame, access to services, Asian women, child protection, Bradford
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