The Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence has
organized resources for Muslim communities because so many Muslim immigrants
living in the U.S. come from various regions in Asia: Central, East, South,
Southeast, and West Asia, i.e. the Middle East.
Identities
Notions of identity carry complex political, social, and familial meanings.
The following terms are defined for clarity only and not to force anyone into a
particular regional and ethnic grouping. Self-identification is appropriately a
matter of individual decision.
- Arab, Middle Eastern, West Asian refers to people from
the Middle East, also called West Asia and includes peoples who trace
their origins to the countries, diasporas and/or ethnicities of these
regions.
- Asian includes peoples of Central Asian, East Asian,
Southeast Asian, South Asian, and West Asian ancestry, i.e., those who
trace their origins to the countries, diasporas and/or ethnicities of the
above regions.
- Muslim, which includes the Sunni and Shia' sects,
refers to people who self-identify, culturally or religiously (whether
they are practicing or not), as Muslims.
- Not all Arabs are Muslims. They can be Christians,
Druze, Baha'is, or Jews. Christian sects in the Middle East include
Antiochian Orthodox, Assyrian, Chaldean, Coptic, Greek Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Maronite, Melkite, Roman Catholic, Syrian Catholic, and Syrian
Orthodox.
- Not all West Asians, such as Iranians/Persians and
Turks, are Arabs.
- Indigenous Muslims refers to African American Muslims.
- Immigrant and refugee Muslims in the U.S. come from
Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,
Pakistan; MENA (Middle East & North Africa) Region: e.g., Egypt, Iran,
Iraq, Palestine; Africa, e.g., Somalia; and Europe, e.g., Bosnia.
Demographics
- Muslims constitute 0.8% (2,454,000) of the U.S. adult
population.1
- 65% of U.S. Muslims are foreign-born; 27% of them
emigrated from South and Central Asia, including Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.2
- 35% of Muslims in the U.S. self-identify as African
American, the largest racial group within the community.3
- 18%, nearly one in five Muslim Americans, self-identify
as Asian.3
- Pew Research Center Forum on Religion and Public Life. Mapping
the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the
World's Muslim Population. Washington, DC: Author; 2009. http://pewforum.org/Muslim/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx
(Retrieved 1-10-11)
- Pew Research Center. Muslim Americans: Middle Class
and Mostly Mainstream. Washington, DC: Author; 2007. http://pewresearch.org/assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf
(Retrieved 1-10-11)
- Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. Muslim Americans:
A National Portrait, An in-depth analysis of America's most diverse
religious community. Washington, DC: Author; 2009. http://www.abudhabigallupcenter.com/File/144332/AmericanMuslimReport.pdf
(Retrieved 1-10-11)
Domestic Violence
Statistics
- A survey of 63 Muslim leaders showed that 10% of
Muslims experienced physical abuse in their homes. Alkhateeb,
Sharifa. "Ending domestic violence in Muslim families." Journal
of Religion and Abuse 1.44 (1999): 49-59.
- A study of 23 Muslim married female immigrants from
Bangladesh residing in Houston, Texas revealed a 10% prevalence rate of
spousal abuse. Rianon, Nahid J., and Shelton, A. J. "Perception
of spousal abuse expressed by married Bangladeshi immigrant women in
Houston, Texas, U.S.A". Journal of Immigrant Health
5.1 (2003): 37-44.
Important Resources
for Advocates
Asian & Pacific
Islander Institute on Domestic Violence
- Directory
of Domestic Violence Programs Serving Muslim Communities A list of
organizations serving Muslim survivors of domestic violence, as well as
immigrant and refugee women from the Middle East and Central, East, South,
Southeast, and West Asia.
- Forums
on Muslim Women's Issues: A Resource Directory A compilation of
resources that address Muslim identities, women’s roles and experiences,
gender-based violence, community empowerment, cultural change, and
interfaith relations.
- Bibliography
on Gender, Domestic Violence, and Muslim Women A list of scholarly and
popular works useful to advocates, researchers, and community members that
includes over 150 listings.
- Muslim
Women and Domestic Violence: 3 Key Topics A short bibliography on:
Domestic Violence in Muslim Communities; Islamic Rights of Women; and
Muslim Women: Gender, Race, Culture & Identity.
- Fact
Sheet on Domestic Violence in Muslim Communities Includes recent
Census demographics, statistics on domestic violence, select translated
materials, (e.g., safety planning and legal glossaries), and other
resources (such as international and national directories).
- Translated
Materials A compilation of materials produced by domestic violence
programs around the country, in Arabic, Bangla, Dari, Farsi, Hindi,
Indonesian, Kurdish, Pashtu, Malay, and Urdu.
- Lifetime Spiral
of Gender Violence In English
and Farsi.
A framework developed by the API Institute to understand how violence is
lived and experienced over the lifespan, revealing patterns of
victimization by enumerating the types of violence, vulnerabilities, and
harms women and girls face.
- Kismet
An online resource guide for Pakistani parents arranging
bi-continental marriages (available in English and Urdu).
Muslim Advocacy
Network Against Domestic Violence (MANADV)
A
collaboration between Peaceful Families Project and the Asian & Pacific
Islander Institute on Domestic Violence.
- A national network of advocates, service providers,
activists, researchers, scholars, legal and health care professionals,
on-line forums, and community-based-organizations addressing domestic
violence in Muslim communities by empowering survivors, deepening
advocacy, strengthening families, and organizing communities.
- MANADV aims to diminish the isolation advocates
experience by building a national network where they exchange information;
dialogue; share resources; strategize about intervention, prevention, and
community organizing; analyze critical issues; develop models and
trainings; and build alliances.
- Join Sharifa's List, named in honor of Sharifa
Alkhateeb's groundbreaking advocacy on behalf of Muslims, to become a
MANADV member and obtain information on resources, publications,
trainings, and events.
For more information about MANADV and to sign up for Sharifa's List, visit www.manadv.org/ or send an email to info@manadv.org.
To forward news of MANADV among your networks, download and share a flyer describing
MANADV.
Peaceful Families
Project
Resources on Legal
Issues
- Awad, Abed. (2002). Court Enforces Mahr
Provision in Muslim Marriage Contract: Odatalla Recognizes the Secular
Terms of a Religious Agreement. New Jersey Law Journal, 169(11),
28-31.
- Awad, Abed and Popescu, Robert S. (2003). Appellate
Division Declines to Adopt Bright-Line Prohibition Against Out-of-Country
Visitation. New Jersey Law Journal, CLXXIII(12).
- Karamah: Muslim Women
Lawyers for Human Rights, Publications
on Islamic Law
- Legal
Glossaries in Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. Superior Court of
California, County of Sacramento, California