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Summer 2010 | Vol 13 No 4

Research update

Mark de la Hey

Youth clinics aid immigrant women concerned about family honour

There has been growing concern in many countries over the number of young women from immigrant backgrounds who have been exposed to murder, violence and other acts by male relatives in the name of family honour. Now, research from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute indicates that youth clinics can play a key role in addressing the problems of women who fear repercussions related to protecting family honour. Seven midwives and five counsellors from four Stockholm youth clinics participated in a series of group interviews as part of the study. The main concern expressed by youth clinic staff in assisting young women with honour-related problems was to avoid making the situation worse. Staff typically engaged in a worry analysis process that involved the creation of a refuge, risk assessment, and worry-reducing measures. The constant fear that the secret of their sexual activity would be discovered, as well as the fear of isolation and violence, was a source of stress for the women that could potentially result in depression. One difficulty they faced was that the simple act of coming to the youth clinic could be seen by their families as meaning that they had had sex, which would be a breach of honour rules. As a result, the women might be reluctant to seek help if the clinic was in a public place. The worry-reducing measures employed by youth clinic staff could include empowerment, keeping the woman’s secret, mediation with the family, or secondary prevention designed to prevent the woman from getting into a worrying situation again. Empowerment generally involved providing the women with information about bodily function, sexual matters, taking sides with them and encouraging them to take control of their own bodies.

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, March 2010, 24 (1): 32–40. Venus Alizadeh et al., Center for Family and Community Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge, Sweden.