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Although violence against women by their intimate partners and family members is a global phenomenon (Levinson ), there is a great deal of cultural variation in the patterns and manifestations of domestic violence (e.g., Ellsberg et al. ; Heise et al. ; Sorenson ; Walker ). Triggers for, responses to, and consequences of intimate partner violence may differ across cultural groups. As Vandello and Cohen () put it, some of the reasons for domestic abuse may reside within the abusive male, but culture also plays a causal role by providing the scripts for the ways in which males and females are to behave. South Asian culture is characterized by various norms that serve not only to maintain violence against women but also to silence those who experience it (e.g., Abraham ; Almeida and Dolan-Delvecchio ; Dasgupta and Warrier ). From the time they are born, if they survive the abortion, infanticide, malnutrition , and femicide that result in a low ratio of girls to boys in most parts of South Asia, girls learn that they are valued less than boys but are duty bound to provide service, sacrifice, and devotion (Kumar ; Sen and Seth ). This emphasis on duty and service (Sethi and Allen ) is central to the South Asian family system , “an elaborate network of male-centered relationships” (Almeida and DolanDelvecchio , ). When they marry, women are expected to leave their natal, “temporary” family (Kumar ) and move in with their “real” family, their husband ’s family, where power is determined by age and gender hierarchies and new brides enter near the bottom (Almeida and Dolan-Delvecchio ; Kumar ; Moghadam ). This transfer of a woman as property from father to husband, combined with beliefs regarding a woman’s destiny and duty to her husband, may normalize the occurrence of rape and other violence in marriage and make it more difficult for women to reveal their abuse (Abraham ; Coomaraswamy ). The lack of information on South Asian women’s experience of domestic violence in North America is especially apparent in the area of sexual abuse of women 4 bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb “Virginity Is Everything” Sexuality in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence in the South Asian Community SANDEEP HUNJAN AND SHELAGH TOWSON 53 Ch004.qxd 11/4/06 12:33 PM Page 53 by intimate partners. Control of female sexuality is an important value in traditional South Asian cultures, maintained by social, economic, political, and legal institutions (Abraham ). Daughters are expected to be chaste and asexual before marriage. In fact, the social stigma against any kind of premarital sexuality is so strong that women are held responsible for any assumed promiscuity, including rape (Dasgupta ; Prasad ). A woman’s nonparticipation in sexual relations after marriage implies shyness due to lack of sexual experience, which is expected because of gender role socialization, and which must be overcome, even with force, by her husband (Abraham ). Within this context, it is not surprising that little research exists on South Asian women’s perceptions of their sexuality or their experience of intimate sexual violence. For the research reported here, the first author interviewed thirteen South Asian women living in Canada who had experienced intimate partner violence. The analysis of the narratives of the women presented first identifies the centrality of two cultural gender norms in experiences of their sexuality: the acceptance of female inferiority as a given and the importance of virginity in conferring value on women. The discussion, then, moves to an exploration of the meaning of intimate sexual abuse, its normalization as an accepted part of the husband’s role, and the central importance of silence as a cultural norm. Finally, possible sources of and prospects for individual and cultural change are discussed. Method The emphasis in the analysis on women’s narratives reflects a feminist perspective (Acker, Barry, and Esseveld ; Greaves et al. ; Lykes and Stewart ); women who have experienced abuse can best describe the beliefs, values, and actions that contribute to violence (Abraham ; Heise ). The thirteen participants who tell their stories here were recruited through word of mouth, posters, a South Asian radio show interview, and referrals from South Asian community-based organizations. All the women were heterosexual, of South Asian descent, and living in southern Ontario, Canada, and all had experienced violence by spouses or partners. The women participated in semistructured faceto -face taped interviews conducted between  and , which ranged from one and a half to three hours, and they received twenty dollars in compensation for their time. At the end of the interviews, participants were given a feedback sheet...

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