Social Work Practice for Muslim Women Experiencing Domestic Violence in Australia, a Critical Approach to Practice

Domestic violence is a significant health issue and a violation of women’s rights worldwide. Australia signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1983 and committed to eliminating gender-based violence. Social workers are at the forefront of the fight against domestic violence in Australia. They should be equipped with relevant skills and nuanced understandings of contributing factors in women’s experiences of domestic violence. This paper argues that cultural and religious factors contribute to Muslim women’s domestic lived experiences and their responses to addressing domestic violence. The discussion through this paper elaborates on how cultural and religious elements within Muslim communities could be both emancipatory and oppressive. The paper also provides a culturally and religiously competent human rights approach for social work practice to address a conflict between cultural obligations and women’s choices to maintain women's self-determination. The human rights lens could help social workers include women in decision-making when addressing domestic violence where there is a conflict between their self-determination and religious requirements.