Cultural Considerations and Challenges to Service Delivery for Sudanese Victims of Domestic Violence: Insights from Service Providers and Actors in the Criminal Justice System *

Abstract

Omaha, Nebraska has recently seen an influx of immigrant refugees from the African nation of Sudan. Domestic violence service providers wony that many Sudanese women are suffering abuse in silence. With that in mind, we identified a number of common obstacles that immigrant women are likely to face when accessing services for domestic violence. We interviewed victim advocates, criminal justice personnel, and other community-based service providers. Our respondents identified the areas of difficulty they encountered most frequently when working with Sudanese clients. Everyone interviewed agreed that Sudanese cultural norms created barriers to service delivery. Our respondents also discussed the strategies they employed when they provided services to Sudanese women, along with their impressions about how well or how poorly those approaches worked. We present their experiences, their challenges, and their recommendations for the future.