Immigrant Women from the Sub Sahara African Region and Domestic Violence

Immigrant Women from Sub-Sahara Africa
Intimate partner violence, also referred to as domestic violence, is one of the most prevalent kinds of violence against women and takes into account physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as well as controlling manners and actions by an intimate partner. Domestic violence takes place in all settings and amidst all socioeconomic, religious and cultural groups (World Health Organization, 2012). In particular, violence by an intimate partner is associated to both the short-term and long-standing health, social, economic effects. The population chosen is immigrant women from Sub-Sahara Africa living in Grande Prairie Alberta in Canada. In the historical account of Canada, immigration has been a pivotal factor in fashioning not only the economic but also social and cultural growth and development of the nation. Statistics indicate that for every five of Canadians in the present day, one of them immigrated to the nation and is born in a foreign nation. The immigrants constitute just about 20 percent of the Canadian populace and represents almost over 60 percent of the yearly population growth. Moreover, in the five years between 2006 and 2011, approximately 150,000 immigrants from Africa reached Canada. Between 2011 and 2016, Grand Prairie experienced a 13.5 percent growth in population with the number increasing from 55,655 to 63,166 people. Approximately more than 7 percent of the population are immigrants (Statistics Canada, 2016).
There are health concerns of the population. In accordance to Arrey et al. (2015), owing to their cultural upbringings, these women have the conviction that sicknesses and illnesses should not be disclosed and this is having and adverse impact on their health. For instance, women suffering from HIV are largely effected because they believe that such ailments ought to be kept secretive. Furthermore, a number of these women believe they are not capable or permitted to make decisions on their own because from a cultural perspective, it is their husbands who make such decisions for them. In Sub-Sahara Africa, the custom that is adhered to is that the male populaces are the heads of their families and therefore have the utmost responsibility of making household decisions encompasses health decisions. Consequently, this is has an impact on the health status of the immigrant women from Sub-Sahara Africa presently residing in Canada. In addition, the psychological concern is that they are to some extent inferior to their male counterparts, with the belief that their work is at home and decisions made by their husbands (Arrey et al., 2015).
There are economic concerns of the population. One of the key aspects is the lack of good employment opportunities and therefore poorer and below average income levels. Africans are lowly represented in high status employments and make incomes inferior than their Canadian-born colleagues, in the face of the fact that the bulk of them have a significantly advanced level of education. Notwithstanding their greater than average levels of education held and accomplished by the immigrant women, they have incomes extremely inferior than would be anticipated. This is for the reason that there is gendered and racialized occupation structures in Canada that markdown educational qualifications and work experience attained in Africa, particularly for women (Topen, 2017).
Public health nurses play a pivotal role in caring for vulnerable populations. They are perceived as playing a key role in attaining enhancements in the health and social statuses of the most vulnerable populations. Their level of knowledge as well as competencies make the nurses ready and prepared to take a leadership role to appraise assets and necessities of communities as well as populaces. In these sorts of settings, the core functions of public health nurses lays emphasis on the prevention of sickness, injury or disability, the advancement of health, and care of the health of populations (Thatcher and Park, 2012). Different local agencies/facilities deliver and render services to the target population. One of these agencies is Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT). In particular, this is an NGO that can assist the Sub-Saharan African immigrant women assimilate and fit into Canadian society. The organization consists of physicians, legal representatives and social workers who make available legal, medical and social services (Settlement Org, 2017). With respect to Intimate Partner Violence, Odyssey House Women's Shelter is a local organization in Grande Priarie offer support to women and also children who are victims of domestic violence (Odyssey House, 2017).





References
Arrey, A. E., Bilsen, J., Lacor, P., & Deschepper, R. (2015). “It’s my secret”: fear of disclosure among Sub-Saharan African migrant women living with HIV/AIDS in Belgium. PloS one, 10(3), e0119653.
Esther Thatcher MSN, R. N., & Eunhee Park BSN, R. N. (2012). Evolving public health nursing roles: focus on community participatory health promotion and prevention. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(2), B1.
Odyssey House. (2017). Grande Prairie’s Emergency Shelter & Supportive Housing Centre. Retrieved from: https://www.odysseyhouse.ca/
Settlement Org. (2017). Refugee Health Services. Retrieved from: https://settlement.org/ontario/health/refugee-health/refugee-health-services/i-came-to-canada-as-a-refugee-what-mental-health-services-can-i-get/
Statistics Canada. (2016). Census Profile, 2016 Census: Grande Prairie [Census agglomeration], Alberta and Alberta [Province]. Retrieved 9 October 2017 from: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMACA&Code1=850&Geo2=PR&Code2=48&Data=Count&SearchText=Grande%20Prairie&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Population&TABID=1
Topen, A. (2017). How integrated are women from sub-Saharan Africa in the Canadian labour force? Halifax case study. Our Diverse Cities: Atlantic Canada. Metropolis.
World Health Organization. (2012). Understanding and addressing violence against women: Intimate partner violence. Retrieved 9 October 2017 from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/77432/1/WHO_RHR_12.36_eng.pdf