Sexual Abuse in South Asian Immigrant Marriages

Abstract

This article focuses on a discussion of some of the norms around sexuality and their implications for sexual abuse of South Asian immigrant women. Based on the narratives of abused South Asian immigrant women, it explains how women define and understand their own experiences of sexual abuse. The article examines three forms of sexual abuse: (a) marital rape and sexual assault, (b) sexual control through manipulation of reproductive rights, and (c) sexual control through the construction of the “sexual other.” Sexual abuse by significant others besides the husband in the immigrant context is also briefly discussed.