Is policing domestic violence institutionally racist? A case study of south Asian Women

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the relationship between police services offered to Asian women as victims of domestic violence and institutional racism. Interviews with officers and women belonging to the minority ethnic communities in two police force areas in England showed that black and minority ethnic (BME) women victims of domestic violence suffer a double disadvantage in terms of the poor service that victims of domestic violence receive in general and because their special needs on account of their ethnicity are not taken into account. The article identifies various problem areas in the way domestic violence incidents in the Asian community are policed, and argues that discussing this issue as an outcome of institutionally racist practices would give it a higher profile and perhaps provide a stronger impetus for introducing necessary reforms and changes in police policy, practice, and training. Keywords: policingdomestic violenceAsian womeninstitutional racism Notes 1. This may be true of other BME women and even men who are victims of domestic violence, but the discussion here focuses on Asian women. 2. Using the term 'Asian' to denote whole communities is to reinforce a fiction that they are homogenous. While it is clear that there is no simple way of understanding the diverse scale and character of the more parochially organised solidarities within various community networks (Ballard Citation1994) for the purposes of this article, these various groups and sub-groups have been clumped together as the 'Asian' community. 3. Government Policy on Domestic Violence at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crimpol/crimreduc/domviolence/domviol98.html#defining). But this has since changed (footnote 10). 4. Holdaway (Citation1996), Bowling (Citation1998) and Foster et al. (Citation2005) confirm that racist views and attitudes were pervasive and accepted in the police. The latter study suggests that while open racist talk and attitudes were held to be politically incorrect and generally unacceptable, institutional racism was still prevalent in police forces observed. 5. Mooney (Citation2000) argues that domestically violent men occur in all class sections, but if women's class is taken into account then professional women have significantly lower rates of violence against them, probably due to their greater access to resources. Thus economic inferiority, cultural inferiority to men, or challenging the stereotypes of inferiority and appropriate behaviour are factors that precipitate domestic violence – and could be the reason why a greater proportion of Asian women disadvantaged in this way, suffer greater domestic violence. Whether these factors also affect the quality of service Asian women get from the police is unresearched. 6. Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said, 'It is essential that migrants wishing to live in the UK permanently recognise that there are responsibilities that go with this. Having a good grasp of English is essential in order for them to play a full role in society, and to properly integrate into our communities' (Press Release, 'English language abilities to be required for visas', 4 December 2006 – www.homeoffice.gov.uk). The Leader of the Commons Jack Straw is reported to have said, 'One of the things we should be looking at is the subject of Asian women speaking English and whether we need to engage them and require them to speak English before they are given a settlement visa' (Doughty S. 'Straw-Muslim Women should learn English before they get a visa', Daily Mail, 6 March '07). 7. Gregory and Lees (Citation1999) cite a study by Cromack (1995) which found that officers thought it a waste of time to prepare documentation if the victim was uncertain as to whether or not to proceed. 8. The One Year Rule (extended to two years under new Immigration Rules 2002) under the previous immigration legislation stated that if, for any reason, the marriage fails during the probationary one year period, the normal expectation is that the spouse will return to his or her own country. If application for leave to remain supported by both parties is not made by the end of the probationary period, the person from abroad immediately becomes an overstayer, liable to be removed from the UK even if the marriage is continuing. Women who are unaware of the one year limit are trapped into unhappy marriages for years altogether (Choudry Citation1996, Joshi Citation2003). 9. Section 498-A Indian Penal Code – the Domestic Violence and Harassment Act, which recognises physical and mental violence inflicted on a women by the husband and relatives as a cognizable and punishable act; and Section 304-B Indian Penal Code – the Dowry Prohibition Amendment Act, which aims at protecting a woman especially within the first seven years of marriage. Further, the definition of violence has been widened to include not only physical acts of aggression, but also to incorporate the often imperceptible psychological violence perpetrated on women daily through cultural and religious practices, and the dynamics of power that structure inter-personal relationships within the family, and sustain women's subordination through systems of language, gesture and socialisation (Pande Citation2002). 10. www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/dv/dv01.htm. 11. Stone and Tuffin's (Citation2000) study supports the view that Asian women felt that as police officers they could provide better help and support to other Asian women in the community, especially in the context of domestic violence. 12. Also see 'Race and the Criminal Justice system: An Overview to the complete statistics 2003–2004' (2005), London: Home Office – which states that while 3.3% of officers recruited belonged to the BME communities, the proportion of BME officers resigning from the service was 62% during the same period. 13. Choudry (Citation1996) found this problem with the Pakistani community that she studied. Jones and Newburn (Citation2001) also discuss problems of representativeness in 'hard to reach' groups. 14. Various authors have noted that the police categorise crimes as 'good' as opposed to 'rubbish' crimes, and it would appear that domestic violence tends to be in the latter category, which includes 'disputes' or 'disturbances', also crimes where there appears to be a chance that the victim might withdraw the allegation at a later point – Bowling Citation1998.