Twelfth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

It is well documented that immigrants all over the world are plagued with a plethora of challenges. Language, racism, lack of access to social services and difficulty getting a job, high stress levels, adjusting, and coping in their new homelands have been said to be a microcosm of some of the challenges that immigrants go through. However, not much has been said or discussed about the intra-spousal challenges that immigrants face. These couples’ challenges are on the rise and are the leading causes of injuries and fatalities that intimate partner violence (IPV) encounter. While domestic violence tends to be front and center of these injuries and deaths in the United States, the cases among Africans in the Diaspora are under-reported. Although, this immigrant group is equally enmeshed in intra-spousal entanglements, there seems to be other underlying determinants that are not often, unearthed until someone of African descent is seriously hurt. This research posits that if these underlying IPV determinants, such as types and causes are identified and addressed early, the trending injuries and deaths among immigrants of African descent will be reduced. Thus, the research focuses on information culled from newspaper excerpts, informant interview accounts, and surveys conducted among Africans living in the diaspora. The study concludes with thematic developments and suggestions on how to minimize this rising trend.