South Asian Women’s Organizations: An Exploratory Study of Workers’ Perceptions on Intimate Partner Violence-Related Help-Seeking

South Asian Women’s Organizations (SAWOs) emerged in the United States in the 1980s in response to the growing awareness of intimate partner violence/domestic violence (IPV/DV) in the South Asian community and the need for culturally relevant services. Despite the support SAWOs have provided to their South Asian clients, few studies have explored the work of SAWOs and the views of SAWO workers regarding IPV/DV in the South Asian community, which can be crucial to enhancing service provisions for this population. We sought to address this gap in extant literature through this current study. We conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 12 SAWO workers to explore their perceptions of IPV/DV and help-seeking behaviors in the South Asian community. Data were analyzed through a directed qualitative content analysis. Four themes emerged from the interviews and analyses: (1) barriers for seeking help; (2) experiences receiving help from informal networks; (3) SAWO workers’ experiences giving support to survivors; and (4) the role of the South Asian community in preventing IPV/DV. Findings of this study underscore the the need for increased collaboration between researchers and practitioners to better attend to the needs of the South Asian immigrant community.