Une étude préliminaire des femmes âgées arabes immigrantes et réfugiées victimes de violence entre partenaires intimes au Canada

expériences vécues, recours aux services et besoins en matière de soutien

Auteurs-es

  • Salma Almukhaini Dalhousie University , Sultan Qaboos University
  • Lori E. Weeks Dalhousie University
  • Lois A. Jackson Dalhousie University
  • Colleen MacQuarrie University of Prince Edward Island

Mots-clés :

Arabes, Canada, services, violence entre partenaires intimes, femmes âgées

Résumé

La violence entre partenaires intimes (VPI) est un enjeu de santé publique mondial qui touche les femmes de tous les pays, quel que soit leur âge, leur race ou leur statut socio-économique. Au-delà du genre, d’autres identités sociales, notamment le statut d’immigration, la race ou l’origine ethnique et le statut juridique, s’entrecroisent, augmentent le risque de VPI chez les femmes et déterminent leur expérience de la violence et leur accès aux services. L’augmentation du nombre de femmes immigrantes et réfugiées dans le monde, combinée au vieillissement de la population, fait en sorte que l’âge et le statut d’immigration constituent des facteurs supplémentaires de vulnérabilité. Cette étude vise à explorer les expériences vécues, le recours aux services et les besoins en matière de soutien des femmes âgées arabes, immigrantes et réfugiées, ayant été victimes de VPI au Canada. Plusieurs entretiens individuels semi-structurés ont été menés avec une femme âgée arabe immigrante ayant subi de la VPI ainsi qu’avec trois personnes ayant apporté leur soutien à des femmes arabes âgées, à titre rémunéré ou bénévole (N=4). Les entretiens ont été analysés à l’aide d’une analyse thématique inductive. Selon les commentaires recueillis, les femmes âgées arabes immigrantes et réfugiées sous-utilisent les services accessibles de lutte contre la VPI pour plusieurs raisons, notamment la stigmatisation, la méconnaissance des ressources existantes, la fragmentation des services et les barrières linguistiques. Un constat particulier a mis en évidence une préférence marquée pour les services dispensés par des intervenantes des secteurs de la santé et des services sociaux, en raison de considérations culturelles et religieuses. La confiance et la prestation de soins adaptés à la culture ont été reconnues comme des éléments essentiels pour favoriser la divulgation et l’accès aux services. Pour accroître le recours aux services chez les femmes âgées arabes immigrantes victimes de VPI, les organismes doivent mener des campagnes ciblées d’information et de sensibilisation, fondées sur des stratégies adaptées à la langue et à la culture. Les partenariats avec les dirigeants et les organismes communautaires arabes sont essentiels pour instaurer la confiance et réduire la stigmatisation. De plus, dans la mesure du possible, il faut privilégier la prestation de services par des femmes afin de respecter les préférences culturelles et religieuses et de renforcer le sentiment de confort et de sécurité des femmes.

Biographies de l'auteur-e

  • Salma Almukhaini, Dalhousie University, Sultan Qaboos University

    Salma Almukhaini was doing her PhD during this study at Dalhousie University, Canada. She is from Oman, one of the Arab countries in the Middle East. She holds a Master’s degree in Adult-Gerontology Critical Care Trauma as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of California, San Francisco. Her research interests include refugee and immigrant health and aging. She has worked as a research assistant, contributing to recruitment, data collection, analysis, and dissemination. Her current work focuses on the nursing workforce and advanced practice nursing.

  • Lori E. Weeks, Dalhousie University

    Lori E. Weeks is a Professor in the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University with a cross-appointment in Gender and Women’s Studies. Her expertise is in aging and family studies, using quantitative and qualitative methods to examine care and support services for older adults and their caregivers, and factors influencing seniors’ health. Her research focuses on vulnerable older adults in community and long-term care settings, with particular attention to elder abuse and intimate partner violence against older women. She is a member of the Abuse and Neglect of Older Adults Research Team in the Maritimes, affiliated with the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research at the University of New Brunswick.

  • Lois A. Jackson, Dalhousie University

    Lois A. Jackson, PhD, is a Professor of Health Promotion in the School of Health and Human Performance at Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia). Her research interests include the health and well-being of marginalized populations, rural women’s health, and access to health services. Much of her research involves collaborations with community-based organizations, and her current program of research is focused on understanding access to treatment services for people who use substances.

  • Colleen MacQuarrie, University of Prince Edward Island

    Colleen MacQuarrie is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Prince Edward Island. Her research draws on feminist liberation psychology and the social determinants of health to examine gender, health inequities, and violence against women. She has received over 40 research grants, many using community-based and participatory approaches. Her scholarship has significantly influenced abortion access and reproductive justice policy in Prince Edward Island through collaborative community action research. She is the founder of the PEI Abortion Rights Network, co-founder of PEI Abortion Access Now, and co-founder of the Reproductive Action and Abortion Research Network (RAARN). Her work centres on advocacy-informed research to improve women’s health and rights.

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Publié

2026-01-22

Numéro

Early View

Rubrique

Recherche originale

Licence

© Salma Almukhaini, Lori E. Weeks, Lois A. Jackson, Colleen MacQuarrie 2026

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