Young Arab Women’s Processes of Coping With Girl Abuse: Intersection of Patriarchal Oppression and Being a National Minority in Israel

Coping With Girl Abuse in the Context of Arab Society in Israel

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020), one of two minors between the ages of 2 and 17 has suffered from physical, emotional, or sexual violence. In accordance, child abuse is a major social problem in Israel, particularly in Arab society. In a large-scale study conducted in Israel (8,239 Jewish and 2,274 Arab children), 67.7% of the Arab children reported having experienced one or more types of abuse, compared to 49.6% of the Jewish children. The study also revealed a higher incidence of all types of abuse of Arab girls compared to Jewish girls (Lev-Wiesel et al., 2018).

Arab society in Israel is heterogeneous and dynamic, especially since it has undergone extensive changes in the past few decades such as increasing rates of education and employment of women, a decline in birth rates, and greater integration into Israeli economy and residential opportunities (Haj-Yahia & Lavee, 2018; Meler, 2017). However, several scholars emphasize patriarchal characteristics and structure, where hierarchy is based on age and gender, and prioritization of adults over young people and men over women. Hence, girls are in the most inferior position (Haj-Yahia, 2011; Haj-Yahia & Lavee, 2018). Additionally, as a collectivist society, family interests and family commitments are given priority over individual wills (Haj-Yahia, 2011; Haj-Yahia & Lavee, 2018). Girls receive family support as long as their behavior is in line with family expectations (Haj-Yahia, 2011; Sa’ar, 2007). They are expected to be of respectable background in terms of clothing, lack of sexual expression, housekeeping skills, and fertility. Honor is a key value structuring the social order in Arab society (Kamir, 2005). The Arabic terms “Hishma” (shame) and I’rd (honor) represent various forms of behaviors which threaten the dominance of the males who are responsible for the reputation of the girls (i.e., father, brother, and men from the extended family; Kamir, 2005). Thus, the use of violence may be perceived as legitimate in situations where family honor is violated, for example, by wearing inappropriate and provocative clothing. Family reputation is maintained through sanctions or threats thereof, ranging from intimidation, restrictions on leaving the house, to honor killings (Shalhoub-Kervorkian & Daher-Nashif, 2013). In this context, abused girls may tend to keep the abuse secret and accept the abuse as part of the authority of adults to discipline them (Haj-Yahia, 2011; Naber, 2005).

The reality of young Arab women’s lives in Israel is complex and hybrid in nature due to the rapid sociocultural changes in Arab society and exposure to more permissive Western culture. These changes pose conflicting demands and strains upon young women (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013). A relevant concept for understanding this complexity is “selective modernity,” where an ethnic minority attempts to balance between external influences and cultural patterns (Meler, 2017). For example, educated young women living in nonmixed rural and urban localities (i.e., solely Arab communities) who work and study outside the home are still under the same supervision of gender arrangements in the private sphere (Meler, 2017). Sa’ar (2007) argues that in order to obtain family commitment within this complex reality, these women need to create a balance between power and weakness. As this balance is unobtainable, women experience loneliness and isolation within their families. Hence, expanding women’s opportunity base through work and education does not translate into social equality or well-being.

The changing trends in Arab society shape the ways in which women are being oppressed and thereby may influence their ways of coping with being abused in childhood (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013). For example, the less privileged a woman is, the more likely she is to receive intense criticism and sanctions for seeking support outside the family (Meler, 2015).

The sociopolitical context of Arabs in Israel may play another major role in shaping the coping processes following abuse among Arab girls. Arabs are a national minority subjected to discrimination and oppression (Naber, 2005). This is manifested, among other aspects, in limited accessibility to social and health services and lack of culturally competent and informed services (Haj-Yahia, 2011). For example, Lev-Wiesel et al. (2018) attributed the higher rate of maltreatment among Arab children relative to Jewish ones to the Arab population’s higher rates of poverty and unemployment and/or their relative lack of access to social and welfare services. Meler (2015) argues that Arab women do not have equal access to nonfamily assistance and must overcome many barriers to receive support, especially if they live in marginalized and geographically peripheral locations. Moreover, barriers to receiving formal support sponsored by the Israeli government are situated not only in the clash between cultures (Collectivist vs. Western) but also in the Arab–Israeli historical conflict and the struggle over territory. Thus, seeking support from Israeli police or social services as women from a minority group underscores the feelings of exclusion and alienation that Arab citizens experience regarding Israeli authorities (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013; Meler, 2015).

When women receive formal support, they often experience practices that are not adapted to their complex sociocultural and political reality. This stems from the fact that the theories, approaches, and therapeutic techniques are based mainly on Western populations (Haj-Yahia & Btoush, 2018). Thus, we argue that the victimization of abused Arab girls is multiplied, in view of the barriers to receiving formal support. These barriers may be reflected in victims’ limited coping strategies such as disclosure of the abuse.

Although we have discussed the sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts separately, in reality, they are inseparable and create intersecting forms of oppression in Arab women’s lives. However, studies have also focused on their agency while coping within these contexts. For example, Abu-Rabia-Queder and Weiner-Levy (2013) argue that Arab women maneuver between geographical, political, cultural, social, and institutional spaces, which can be oppressive or beneficial. Movement between the spaces can provide multiple coping opportunities and alternative patterns of feminine agency. The ability to move between the social and psychological schemas depends on the women’s resilience as well as the lenience of the power structures and control they are coping with. However, the women continue to cope with emotional distress (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013).

While these studies shed light on Arab women’s agency and coping within conflicting spaces and structures, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined the immediate and long-term coping processes following abuse in childhood among young Arab women in Israel. Therefore, our study aimed to explore the coping processes of this marginalized population following girl abuse over time in the sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts of Arab society in Israel. Gaining such knowledge is important not only theoretically but also practically, in order to develop effective and culturally adapted interventions.

Method

Data Collection

The qualitative study was designed based on the constructivist theory (Ragin, 1994) and the identification of patterns based on the descriptions and subjective perceptions of young Arab women regarding their processes of coping following abuse in childhood (Corbin & Strauss, 1990). Using semistructured interviews, we interviewed 20 Arab women recruited through purposive sampling, aimed to achieve variation among participants in terms of age, religion, level of education, place of residence, types of abuse, and professional contact with a social worker (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Participants were recruited in three ways: (1) contacting social workers who specialize in services for girls in Arab communities (welfare offices and “Warm Homes”; n = 12), (2) outreach to community centers (n = 3), and (3) snowball sampling (i.e., recruited by other interviewees; n = 5). Contacting professionals was accompanied by a written call for participation in the study, with a detailed explanation of study purpose and interview template. Data saturation was reached after interviewing 20 women, in terms of sufficient data for replicability (Walker, 2012), no new information (Guest et al., 2006), and unfeasibility of further coding (Guest et al., 2006).

Study Participants

The study included 20 Arab young women aged 18–26 years (average 21.4). All participants were abused from childhood to adolescence, according to their direct report to the authors and in accordance with the recruitment criterion. In this study, abuse in childhood was defined as the experience of direct victimization (physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as neglect) or indirect victimization (witnessing/hearing a violent event or knowing about it in retrospect), shown to have similar psychological outcomes (Haj-Yahia, 2001).

Due to the recruitment by the different channels and from different regions in Israel, the participants represent diversity in the following demographic parameters: marital status (single [n = 16], married with children [n = 1], divorced with children [n = 3]), education (8–15 years; mean = 11.8), employment (unemployed [n = 12], employed [n = 8]), religion (Muslim [n = 19], Druze [n = 1]), residence (Arab towns [n = 4], Arab villages [n = 11], Jewish-Arab mixed cities [n = 5]), contact with a professional (15 were in contact, 5 were not).

Procedure

The current study was approved by the ethics committee of our academic center and by the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services. Our research plan was in accordance with the WHO guidelines for addressing ethical and safety issues in gender-based violence research (García-Moreno et al., 2005). Participants were informed in advance that the study includes questions on violence and that sensitive topics would be raised in the interviews, and of their right to skip questions or discontinue participation at any stage. Identifying markers were kept in strict confidence.

The personal, in-depth interviews were conducted between June and December 2017 at a venue of the interviewee’s choice (1–2.5 hr per interview). All interviews were conducted in Arabic by the authors (PhD in social work) or research assistants (MA social workers), native speakers of Arabic, all of them women. Before commencing the interview, the interviewer introduces herself and explained the purpose of the interview, namely to learn about their experience of coping with exposure to violence in childhood and adolescence. Participants signed forms of informed consent to participate in the study. The interview started with questions on the interviewee’s personal, familial, and social background and then moved on to the violence story in a sensitive manner. At the end of the interview, the participants were asked whether they felt comfortable with the contents of the interview being used in the study and informed they had the right to refuse. The participants were given a leaflet about services available in Arabic, to make the information accessible. The participants were also given the contact information of the researchers and were told they were to feel free to consult with them on emotions arising from the interviews if they felt the need. However, none of the participants used this option.

Data Analysis

After the interviews were completed and transcribed, the data were coded using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-stage approach to thematic analysis. These stages consisted of (1) familiarizing with the data by transcription of the interviews and a repeated and active reading thereof, (2) generating initial data codes and categorization, (3) searching for themes by sorting the codes into potential themes by analysis of codes and their integration into a comprehensive topic, (4) reviewing themes by rereading the themes and examining the coherence of encoded data in the same theme and examining the validity of the themes in relation to the meanings of the data, (5) defining and naming themes, and (6) producing the report, using citations that illustrate the meanings of the themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Analysis of the findings yielded categories of coping in the short and long term, in the personal sphere and in the sociocultural sphere. The theoretical framework was constructed based on a theory grounded in the findings during collection and analysis of the data.

The following analysis standards were applied: (1) Credibility. We used documents, memoranda, analysis trees, and diagrams of the analysis of the findings, and identified themes were used to form categories. Quotes were kept in their original context. (2) Dependability. All stages of study analysis were documented, and the findings were based on quotations, to enable the reader to follow the reasoning process throughout the research stages (Franklin & Balan, 2005). 3) Confirmability. We examined our interpretations of each interview and all interviews together for internal coherence. 4) Transferability. The reader may use discretion regarding applicability to other contexts and populations (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

Despite the fact that the theoretical framework was constructed based on grounded theory, the researchers were aware of the issue of reflexivity and its effect on the power relations between the researchers and the research participants (Caron, 2016). Here, the fact that interviewers were all social workers and older than the interviewees, created a power difference. In order to address potential limitations caused by power dynamics, we made every effort to emphasize the choice to participate in the study throughout the process and provide a safe place for the interviewees to express their feelings, concerns, and critical opinions about their families, their society, and even social institutions. Some interviewees were curious about the nature of the interviewers’ work and consulted with them on personal problems. In addition, in order to emphasize the women’s choice and sense of control, the interviews were conducted in venues of the interviewees’ choice, such as the “Warm Homes” (a facility that provides social, educational, and therapeutic services for adolescent girls at risk), interviewees’ homes, social centers, or any other place deemed as safe by the interviewee.

Results

The findings relate to cognitive and behavioral coping strategies (Holohan & Moos, 1987) of Arab young women in Israel, who had experienced abuse during their childhood and adolescence. Our analysis revealed that these women’s coping strategies varied as a function of time (in the short term following the abuse vs. long term) and the sphere of coping (personal lives vs. in the sociocultural context). The women in our study reported experiencing diverse types of violence in childhood and adolescence: psychological violence by parents and/or siblings (n = 16), violence between parents (n = 12), physical violence by parents and/or siblings (n = 10), emotional neglect (n = 5), and sexual violence by relatives (n = 4).

Short-Term Coping Strategies Immediately Following the Abuse

Coping strategies immediately following the abuse relate to the ways in which the young women coped with continuous abuse in childhood and adolescence in the personal, social, and cultural spheres. All participants referred to these coping strategies in the different spheres. Our analysis of the data revealed no link between pattern of abuse (childhood and adult polyvictimization) and coping strategies employed by the victims.

Coping in the personal sphere

Coping strategies in the personal sphere immediately following the abuse included strategies in which the young women attempted to cope on their own with the abuse they had suffered in childhood and adolescence. These coping strategies consisted of keeping the problems to themselves (as a secret), self-blame, giving up, and employing behavioral practices of stress relief. Ten participants adopted these strategies.

Keeping problems to oneself

This strategy of independent coping with problems refers to cases in which young women, already in childhood, have lost trust in significant others and, as a result, have been unwilling to share their experiences and difficulties. The unwillingness to share problems also stemmed from the fear of disgracing the family [fadiha], for which they would be blamed. We met 20-year-old Sophie, who lives in a conservative village at the north of Israel, at the Warm Home for young Arab women, which she visits regularly for personal mentoring and education assistance. She was too ashamed to share the abuse with the social worker at the Warm Home but agreed to share it with us:

After the abuse, I did not trust others, and as a result I did not want to share what I was going through with others. I didn’t even want to think about solutions with others. I was in it alone.

We met 24-year-old Marina at her home while her children were at school. Marina is a divorcée and mother of four children, who had suffered as a child from physical and psychological violence. She works as a cleaner and has no family financial support or a steady income. Her parents forced her to marry when she was a minor. As she explained:

You cannot share at home. My sisters and I have learned that each of us must solve her problems alone. I have no backing, no one to share with. My mother always said, “Suffering secretly is better than suffering with a fadiha.” That message stayed with me and I know I cannot rebel against my family, customs, my mother and older brother, so I preferred to keep quiet.

Viewing these quotes through an intersectional lens illustrates the significance of young age and status of Arab girls, as they are limited by values, beliefs, and social sanctions to disclosing their experiences. Disclosure rates of abuse decrease with age, and younger children are more likely to delay disclosure than older ones (Hershkowitz et al., 2005). These findings have been explained by children’s fears about the possible repercussions of disclosure (e.g., Hershkowitz et al., 2005). In Arab society, violence is perceived as a personal or familial problem and not as a social or legal problem. Therefore, it is not considered as a justified reason for endangering family cohesion and reputation should the survivor speak out (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013; Haj-Yahia, 2011; Naber, 2005). Furthermore, Arab women who had disclosed abuse in childhood report severe deterioration in their social status (such as ostracism of the victim and her family and honor killings), as well as social abuse, such as accusing the victims and denying them of support or treatment (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013; Shalhoub-Kervorkian & Daher-Nashif, 2013).

Self-blame

Self-blame is a common cognitive coping strategy among abused young children, due to biased attributional processes (Walsh et al., 2010). These attributions may be intensified by the sociocultural context of Arab society, as young girls are accorded the lowest social status and are raised to play the subordinate roles of daughter and future wife and mother, due to their allegedly inherent inferiority (Haj-Yahia, 2011; Naber, 2005; Shalhoub-Kervorkian & Daher-Nashif, 2013). In this context, it is more likely that the abuse would be perceived as a response to the girl’s inappropriate behavior.

The young women’s tendency to self-blame in our study was exemplified in their perceptions of themselves as responsible for the abuse or threats from which they had suffered. We met 19-year-old Jasmine at the Warm Home, which, as an alumna, she considered a safe place for the interview. Her rebellion against cultural norms was manifested in volunteering in the National Service, which is not customary in Arab society. Additionally, she has detached herself from Arab society and connected with a group of young Jewish girls to protect herself from the traditional Arab space in which she was raised. She shared that her coping was by blaming herself for what was happening to her:

It was easier for me to tell myself that I was guilty and that I caused all of this. It was easier than coming to my parents, for example, and telling them about the harassment I had experienced.

Thus, it seems that Jasmine considered it safer to blame herself for the abuse, that is, an internal process that she has control over, than to experience the social sanctions she might face if she would be blamed by her social environment for disclosing the abuse.

We met 21-year-old Sally who is from a mixed city at the center of Israel, in a community center she visits regularly. Sally is father orphaned and was raised by her mother at her grandparents’ house, where she and her mother were abused by her uncles. She also referred to the self-blame immediately following the abuse:

I accused myself of this relationship. I tried to forgive him and did not realize that he was exploiting me. For 2 years he used me […] I felt guilty.

These quotes of self-blame as a coping strategy may indicate an internalization of the violence and mechanisms of control and oppression to which Arab girls are subjected (Ghanim, 2009).

Giving up

Giving up refers mainly to renouncing personal aspirations and wishes, due to a sense of inability to change one’s situation. We met 21-year-old Muna at a community center, where she was taking courses for the matriculation exams. She described prolonged mental abuse by her father. As she described:

I could not change anything […] I could not change my father’s decisions, and I could not change my life, so I gave up. I gave up my ambition to work, to study, and to spend time with friends.

In Arab society, the father is perceived as the masculine figure protecting girls and young women. The father should strengthen a girl’s self-esteem, so that she would accept herself rather than give up on herself in such a situation. Thus, giving up here is in the context of gender and father–daughter relationship, where the abuse causes giving up.

We met 23-year-old Sirin, a law student from a Muslim village at the center of Israel at her home, while her family was away. She explained how despite the big steps she has made by entering academia as a law student, a high-status occupation in Arab society, she perceived herself as week. She gave up on herself in terms of her lack of self-confidence. As she described:

As a child, I was afraid to want to do things […] I was afraid of how people and my father would look at me and criticize me. I felt weak inside. I was fighting myself […] frightened of everything I wanted to do and so I gave up.

Giving up could be viewed as a form of powerlessness. Yet it should also be understood in the context of collectivist, patriarchal Arab society, in which the interest of the group (i.e., preventing the breaking up of the family or a fadiha—an Arabic term for disgracing the family) prevails over the interest of the individual, especially young girls (Naber, 2005).

Behavioral practices of stress relief

The participants adopted behavioral practices through which they released the stress and the consequences of the abuse, such as seeking solace in religion and prayer following the abuse, using writing for releasing stress and emotional pain, listening to music, and covert smoking. For example, Marina shared:

I never thought to seek help. I was ashamed [al-Ayeb]. I could not do this to my parents. […] I found my way […] I wrote it all. That’s what I’ve been doing since I was little to this day. I let it all out through writing. It seems that the need for emotional expression of her experiences could only find relief through writing, as expressing herself to her parents was not a valid option due to the socio-cultural context.

Previous studies have recognized the importance of praying for Muslim women coping with domestic violence (Hassouneh-Phillips, 2003). In our study, this way of coping was introduced by Dina, 22, whom we met at the Warm Home, the only refuge for her. Dina, who lives in an ultratraditional Bedouin village, is unemployed and spends most of her day at home. She described violence by her brothers who forced her to wear head dressing from an early age. She shared that seeking solace in religion and prayer constituted a rescue mechanism for her:

I started to pray. At first, I prayed that God take them and even me! I was desperate. Over time, I felt relieved. Through prayer and reading the Koran I found solace.

Most excerpts showed that many young women cope with abuse in childhood by keeping the abuse and the resulting problems to themselves, without sharing these with others. In some cases, they even blame themselves. This coping mechanism is readily available, sparing them the negative social consequences of seeking external support (Meler, 2015).

Coping in the Sociocultural Sphere: Informal and Formal Support Seeking

Informal support seeking: Disclosure to family or trusted adult

The sociocultural sphere includes the young women’s coping by turning to close support agents with whom they are familiar. These agents can be at the level of interpersonal relationships, such as family members, or the level of relations within their community, such as clerics or dignitaries in the community in which they live. The purpose of turning to these informal agents was to receive assistance and support following the abuse. In general, individuals in Arab society prefer to seek informal support from friends and family rather than formal support services including in cases of child abuse (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013). Five participants in our study said they had adopted this coping strategy at some point during their childhood or adolescence. Amal, 21, whom we met at her aunt’s house while her family was away expect for her female cousin, shared the abuse she and her four sisters experienced by the men in the family. Furthermore, her mother suffered from prolonged violence for having given birth to daughters. She said:

At first, I had to keep quiet and not tell anyone […] These are my parents. How could I let anyone know that they hurt me?! The only person I confided in was my aunt. She would soothe me and tell me that everything would be alright. You know why I did not ask for help, because the people out there are only waiting for someone to reveal something and then they start gossiping about this person.

Amal demonstrates in this excerpt that disclosing her abuse was accompanied by fear of the social sanctions.

We met Dalal, 24, at the university dormitories, where she exposed being sexually molested by a cousin during adolescence. She shared her secret with only one female cousin, who in turn revealed that she was also molested by the same cousin. Dalal had made a conscious choice to confide in her close female cousin, rather than her mother, as a way of coping.

I did not seek support. I confided in my [female] cousin, who knows him [the male cousin who tried to molest her]. I told her that our cousin was harassing me and had tried to sexually assault me, but later I realized that she was also helpless. I was really afraid to tell my mother. I did not want to lose the relationship with my family.

The helplessness of family members, which Dalal describes, may have contributed to silencing the abuse and was likely due to the fact that family members, who are also part of the abusive context, kept the abuse secret and could not help the victims. This finding reflects a disparity between the official ideology of the Arab family, which demands unity and mutuality and the response of society in practice, which leaves the girls to cope on their own (Meler, 2017). The sense of joint helplessness may also reflect the shared traumatic reality of oppression experienced by the young girls and the members of their informal support systems. The abused girls and their female family members experience the intersection of their marginal positions in their sociocultural and sociopolitical life contexts, which includes their gender, ethnicity, and nationality (Damant et al., 2008).

The effectiveness of seeking support as a strategy for coping with abuse depends on the response of the support network (McElvaney et al., 2012). This was reflected by what Mariam shared when we met her at the welfare department at the village where she resides. Mariam, a 23-year-old divorcée with two children, was married off by her parents as a minor and was raped as a child by a family member. During her marriage, she suffered physical and mental violence by her spouse, including rape. Adhering to cultural codes, she asked her father to rescue her from her violent relationship. She shared her satisfaction with disclosing her abuse:

My story was like a hard stone in my heart […] I understood that it was impossible to get rid of the difficult situation without revealing the story of the abuse to my father, and I wanted to receive his support about it. It was very difficult for me to tell him, but I had no choice. In retrospect, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Another form of informal support seeking was through religious figures. We met Sana, 26, single, in an aid center for girls in a mixed city. She displayed an uncommonly mature character, reflecting her understanding of her context as an excluded minority surviving the injustice in her life, which prevented her from trusting the system. Sana described seeking support from the clergy (sheikhs):

Whenever my brothers would begin beating us up and breaking things in the house, my mother would call the neighborhood sheikh to come and talk to my brothers and calm them down. […] He probably did it out of helplessness. We believed it would change things at home and that my brothers would respect a cleric, but they would calm down for a few hours and the mess would resume later.

Sana’s excerpt reflects that the intervention of the clergy (sheikhs) was at a surface level, leaving her and her mother in a state of joint helplessness. This may also reflect the shared traumatic reality of oppression experienced by the young girls and the members of their informal support systems. The abused girls and their female family members experience the intersection of their marginal positions in their sociocultural and sociopolitical life contexts, which includes their gender, ethnicity, and nationality (Damant et al., 2008).

Formal support seeking

Coping in the socioinstitutional sphere is done through turning to formal professional support agencies, which constituted a last resort in short-term coping. In the Israeli context, Arabs’ view of professional support as a last resort is not only culture related but is also related to the broader sociopolitical context. Israeli Arabs are an ethnic minority exposed to social and political exclusion, discrimination, and oppression (Naber, 2005). This reality creates multiple barriers to formal service use such as lack of trust in institutions and lack of culturally adapted services (Meler, 2015; Shalhoub-Kervorkian, & Daher-Nashif, 2013). During adolescence, the professionals available to young women are school guidance counselors or social workers in “Warm Homes.” Seven participants in the study had some contact during adolescence with social workers from the “Warm Homes” or participated in support groups directed by guidance counselors at school. Only two of them shared their abuse as adolescent girls, out of the seven who were in contact with a social worker. The majority who chose not to share the abuse did so subconsciously. Thus, not sharing the abuse reflects fear of society, which stems from their intersectional marginality. We met Hiba, 20, one of the two women who disclosed their abuse to a social worker at the Warm Home. Hiba resides in a traditional village and is a certified dental assistant. She is unemployed and spends most of her time at home. As she shared:

A few years ago, I used to come to the “Warm Home,” where I had individual sessions with the social worker. I confided in her regarding everything I was going through. Over time, I understood that thanks to her I have gained self-confidence and belief in myself.

Faten, 22, who had experienced sexual abuse by a family member as a child, was referred to psychological treatment and was being treated by a social worker from the “Warm Home.” She said that after five suicide attempts, she was feeling well again thanks to the professional help she has received:

I have been through many difficult and shocking things as a child, followed by five suicidal attempts. I was in the dumps. Compared to my previous state, I am doing exceptionally well. The social worker in the “Warm Home” has helped me a lot.

Although seven participants used the “Warm Home” services, the findings show that only two of them disclosed the abuse to the social worker and felt satisfied with that, meaning that most of them received support from the service in some aspects of their lives as girls and adolescents while actively withholding the secret of abuse. Furthermore, some women said that sharing the abuse with a social worker has led to undesired results, manifested in a sense of being blamed by society for the abuse. For example, Sana described her shock at the consequences of the intervention by the social worker after revealing that her bother had abused her:

When I turn to a social worker, I come to her to help me. I told the social worker that my brother had hit me, and the next day I discovered that he was in jail.

The specific strategy of receiving formal support seems to reflect the agency and power of Arab girls as they appraise safe versus unsafe discussion topics. The participants have made a conscious and adaptive decision, taking into account the costs and benefits of disclosure in their specific complex life contexts. Moreover, it points to their sense of alienation, fear of shaming, and inability to fit into the hegemonic spaces of Israeli society, as well as to the fact that their needs could not have been fulfilled through the social services (Meler, 2015).

Coping Strategies in the Long Term

Long-term coping with the abuse focuses on the current coping, as young Arab women in Israel, with the prolonged abuse that occurred in childhood and adolescence. Coping strategies in the personal, cultural, and social spheres are described below. All participants referred to long-term coping.

Coping in the personal sphere

Analysis of the findings showed that long-term coping strategies in the personal sphere were largely cognitive. The participants use defense mechanisms and reconstruction of their own perception of Arab culture. The use of such cognitive strategies has been found to characterize long-term coping with abuse in several studies (Oaksford & Frude, 2004; Walsh et al., 2010). Oaksford and Frude (2004) explained that these strategies require high levels of cognitive sophistication such as the ability to reassume psychological control and normalize the experience. From a developmental perspective, it is therefore not surprising to find that these strategies emerged years after the initial experience of abuse, when the participants were more mature and better able to cognitively appraise their abuse because of the distance in time from the initial abusive experience (Oaksford & Frude, 2004).

Use of defense mechanisms

The use of defense mechanisms was prominent in the long-term coping of young women, as described by seven participants in the study. These strategies included, for example, rationalizing the use of psychological violence and restrictions imposed on the behavior of the young women. In Muna’s case, she exhibited identification with her violent brother:

I do not blame my brother for his behavior towards me. He goes out with young women and sees how they lie to their parents. When I was a teenager, he would not let me spend time outside. He was afraid something would happen to me.

Avoidance, namely distancing from stimuli relating to the abuse in order to reduce emotional distress, is a known coping strategy with abuse (i.e., DiPalma, 1994). This mechanism was described by Rima, 23, whom we met at the community center where she takes courses in preparation for her matriculation exams, while her children were at school. She is a divorced mother of two children and is unemployed but receives financial support from her family. Her parents married her off at the age of 14 and prevented her from continuing her studies. As a minor, her husband married a second wife (polygamy) because of her inability to become pregnant.

When I recall everything I have been through, I feel despair, but I run away from despair. I try to forget, and even to run away from my thoughts about what has happened. I do not like to remember what has happened. I run away from it.

Sophie described using the avoidance mechanism as her way of coping with the abuse.

I have decided to shut this episode out. He [the offender] was making repeated attempts to meet me, and I refrained from it. I did not want to meet him. It would just take me back to the event. As far as I am concerned, this is over. I do not wish to go back to square one. I do not want to pick this wound.

Rima and Sophie presented two dimensions of avoidance. One was internal, that is, thoughts relating to the abuse, and the other more external (avoiding meeting the offender). While both aspects of avoidance are documented in the literature on coping with child abuse and other traumatic events (Oaksford & Frude, 2004), in the case of our participants, it could also be understood as conforming with the Arab cultural norm of “not opening past wounds” (Haj-Yahia, 2001).

Restructuring

Restructuring is a coping strategy that involves seeking to change one’s understanding of a traumatic event and its implications (Thomas & Hall, 2008; Walsh et al., 2010). Two major cognitive strategies that were used simultaneously and were described by the participants were positive restructuring of the self and restructuring the meaning of the sociocultural context. These cognitive strategies indicated the process of empowerment they have undergone, as well as the reorganization of their self-perception and their relationship with society in a way that allows acknowledgment of what the cultural context can provide or block.

Positive restructuring of the self

The participants referred to a positive and empowered sense of self, assigning positive meaning to the difficult experiences during childhood, more awareness and responsibility, mental well-being, and personal resilience at this point in their lives, as described by six participants. For example, Sana referred to her positive self-perception because she had not harmed herself or her family:

Today I understand the restrictions [my family imposes] on my life, what my brother and my parents allow me to do and what they do not permit. However, I feel that I greatly respect myself. I am proud of myself for having overcome the difficult period and the suffering in childhood without harming myself or my family […] I have not run away from home. I have not disgraced [myself or my family]. On the contrary, I have stayed there and fought for myself.

This excerpt illustrates that collectivist Arab society expects women to give up their own wishes and needs, placing the interests of society first. This expectation places women in a position of self-conflict in terms of loyalty.

Muna related to the positive meaning of what she has experienced in establishing her responsibility for herself, as a way of coping:

I am not sorry for anything I have been through, [because] I have learned to trust myself and no one else. […] I am responsible for myself. […] I know what suits me and what does not, and certainly I know how to take care of myself in difficult situations.

Sophie related the personal resilience that she had developed as a way of coping with what she had experienced:

I know the consequences of all the difficult experiences still affect me, but it is all for the best. I am strong, I am able to speak [my mind] and resist anything that bothers me. I have strengthened myself, and I have moved away from any negative atmosphere in my life, looking for positive things that strengthen me.

We met Dana, 22, in an aid center for girls in the center of Israel, where she resides. Dana is a divorcée with one child, who was forbidden from completing high-school education. She was subjected to extensive abuse by her family and later by her spouse. She referred to her positive self-perception:

In the wake of all that I have been through, today I know better. I am smart, I know who I am dealing with, who wants what is best for me and who does not. I am aware of myself and my wishes and what is happening around me.

Our finding of positive restructuring of the self is in line with previous research on post-traumatic growth in adulthood following girl abuse (e.g., Thomas & Hall, 2008). The restructuring of a positive self among participants included finding positive meaning in their traumatic experiences, gaining an internal locus of control, and striving for a better future, as seen in previous studies of resilient abuse survivors (Thomas & Hall, 2008; Walsh et al., 2010).

Restructuring the meaning of the sociocultural context

This strategy perhaps facilitated the positive restructuring of the self. It relates to understanding culture in another way that allows young women to distinguish between themselves, as young women, and the way they perceive Arab society as a collective. This restructuring includes the ability to criticize Arab society and culture, to set boundaries with family members or elements within Arab society in order to prevent interference in their lives, and to strengthen their self when confronting their families. One fourth of the participants described this process of restructuring the meaning of the cultural context as a way of coping with the abuse. Jasmine said:

The way the people in my village perceive young women is very superficial, [with] a lot of disrespect for me and other young women. I have learned not to trust them anymore, I haven’t thought so before, but today I understand that there is nothing there for me anymore.

Sana referred to the process of self-empowerment in the face of cultural norms that do not help her cope:

I feel that Arab society is an old-fashioned society. People solve problems in the name of religion. You cannot go out and cannot work because you are a woman. I don’t care. There is no sense in accepting all these restrictions, and one should object to everything that happens to girls in society. Today I cannot accept being told that that am forbidden to go to work or go with a girlfriend.

Rima related to setting boundaries and self-empowerment when confronting her family:

At first, the whole family joined forces against me, even my sisters. I stood my ground and did not accept what they were saying. I am the one suffering, not them. […] Do you know what I think today? When I set the boundaries, they all accepted it. They [my family] understood that they could not force me to do anything. Yet, it started from me, the moment I decided to get myself together, because over time I understood that they would not back me up.

Some participants describe a critical understanding of their culture and their position as women in society as well as the modification of boundaries between themselves and others. Such boundaries include, for example, restricting the level of interference with their lives. These findings emphasize that the concept of the self as a separate individual does not apply to young Arab women who must engage in constant negotiation from their intersecting position of identity and belonging (Meler, 2017).

Coping in the sociocultural sphere

The sociocultural sphere of the young women’s coping points to more active steps over time and refers to the young women’s attempt to acquire education and integrate into the employment market as their way of achieving personal and economic independence. This was done based on the understanding that such independence would allow self-accomplishment in the wider social sphere, as well as the organization and redefinition of their relations with the family and the community.

Acquiring education and integrating into the employment market

In general, the percentage of Arab Israeli women pursuing employment and higher education is on the rise, thus providing an opportunity for improving economic and social status as well as social mobility and integration in the broader society (Meler, 2017). The attempt to acquire education and integrate into the employment market, as expressed by our participants, indicated that they wished to create a stable space of financial independence for themselves, which would lead to a more independent life with minimal dependence on their family. This independence enabled them to reorganize their relationship with the family and even to change their relationship with their family and their community. A quarter of the participants in the study said that education and integration into the employment market were effective ways of coping with their situation. For example, Kathy, 18, whom we met at a Warm Home, is from an ultratraditional Bedouin village. She had suffered from severe psychological violence by her parents combined with the impacts of her father’s addiction to alcohol and violence toward her mother. Her parents had also applied immense pressure on her to marry as a minor. As she described:

The blows I would receive at home did not weaken me. On the contrary, I told my parents that I wanted to pursue academic education. I enrolled in a college. I want a different life, a respectable job. I may be young, but I feel stronger than ever.

Sally likewise described how she coped with her situation by working with young women who have suffered similar abuse. Her work with them empowered her and provided meaning and growth from vulnerability:

Today I work in a nursing company as a caregiver for the elderly, and it allows me to earn a living. However, I realize my dream and my personal independence through my work with Arab girls from my city. I teach creative writing and write with them. We are working on a book […] that describes our situation and our lives.

The women in our study expressed an understanding of their right for independence through work and higher education. It seems that young Arab women in Israel derive agency from conflicting structures and negotiate with them: the Arab cultural resources and the Israeli–Jewish cultural–spatial resources. When Arab cultural resources are ineffective, some women use resources available in the Israeli geographic and cultural spaces (such as acquiring education or working in Jewish cities; Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013). However, the way out of violence is much more complex. Krigel and Benjamin (2019) point to the double struggle of marginalized women: On the one hand, they face the institutional and social demand for paid employment, but on the other hand, they remain subject to patriarchal hegemony, subordinate to violence of those seeking to maintain male domination. That is, a complex or contradictory relationship between public policy and culture may preclude the implementation of the stated policy.

Informal and Formal Support Seeking: Breaking the Silence

Informal support seeking: Disclosure to trusted peers

The support seeking of young women in the contemporary social–institutional sphere is perceived as providing opportunities and unconventional solutions for them. Such support seeking included exposure of young women to a sphere that was previously unknown to them, sometimes transcultural, and their integration into it. This sphere included seeking formal ways of help to achieve independence in the young adulthood stage and, in certain cases, turning to law enforcement and exercising rights, in order to stop the suffering that had lasted for many years. Seven participants referred to support seeking in the social sphere.

Sana described the empowerment process she experienced in a social sphere different than the familiar familial sphere:

My friend, a Jewish girl from the same city, initiated a small center for young women, Arab and Jewish. We all come to the center and take part in workshops for personal and women empowerment […] This is my third year in the center. I feel a real change, feel more comfortable with myself, feel strong and not alone, and that I can stand up for myself.

Jasmine recounted how she coped in a different social sphere:

The situation at home was very difficult, and I did not want to stay there. My father refused that I work outside the home. He is a conservative man. However, I went against the flow. I would go out to work from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. I worked in a Jewish city far away from my village, and then I found Jewish friends. We meet on a regular basis. I am comfortable with them. I am far from home and from the village. I have no friends from here [the village]. My new friends do not reveal the secrets of any of us and do not judge each other.

Support seeking seems to have changed over time, and the participants describe new meaningful social networks, outside the Arab community.

Formal support seeking

The decision to approach a social worker and confide in her regarding the distress was a coping strategy reported by seven participants, which helped empower their personal resilience and personal safety. For example, Dina said that seeking professional support stemmed from a desire to change the extreme situation at home, as described by her:

Recently, when I understood that the situation at home continues to be very difficult, and that my brothers were interfering with everything, and have even begun to apply pressure on me and my sister to pursue a religious lifestyle, I contacted a social worker at the welfare office. I felt I had no choice. I am still in touch with them. I wish I had known about them before. My life could have been different.

In extreme risk situations, one of the ways to cope with the situation was to turn to the police to obtain protection on the one hand, and as a way to regain control and receive support. Lina, 21, lives in a village and currently works in temporary jobs. She had been subjected during adolescence to physical, financial, and psychological violence, including restrictions and confinement at home by her brother. We met her at the Warm Home she used to frequent. She shared that one of her ways of coping with the situation was to turn to law enforcement:

A few years ago, he [my brother] had a violent outburst against me and my sister. She had a nervous breakdown and fell to the floor. I was terribly afraid that something might happen to her. I called the police and filed a complaint against him. I wanted to show him that the power is in my hands. Today I understand that maybe it was an extreme measure, because my brother was in jail. But I do not give up. Today all my brothers realize I can take care of myself, and I do not let anyone touch me anymore. I keep telling this to myself and that is what strengthens me. […] Today I better understand my rights and do everything possible to realize these rights.

Our findings show that in some cases where the abuse continued into young adulthood, the participants described breaking the cultural barriers and using formal support such as social workers and the police. The formal support systems are still perceived as the last resort for dealing with escalation of the abuse or rather as a way of setting new boundaries between them and their families. Meler (2015) argues that support seeking from formal institutions highlights the alienated positions of Arab women in their own society. At the same time, by seeking help, these women may reframe their traumatic experiences and create new narratives. Their critical perception helps them challenge and negotiate socially accepted values.

Discussion

Although coping with girl abuse has been broadly studied around the world (e.g., Walsh et al., 2010), most studies have focused on Western societies, namely individualistic, postindustrial societies, which differ from transitional and collectivist societies such as Arab society in Israel (Haj-Yahia, 2011). Moreover, context sensitive research on coping with girl abuse is lacking, specifically in the case of Arab society in Israel. Thus, the present study enriches the literature on coping with girl abuse as well as social work practice with firsthand evidence of the nature of coping with girl abuse over time among young Arab women.

From a broad perspective on the coping strategies, two patterns of coping processes seem to have facilitated the women’s agency: a pattern of distancing and a pattern of integration. Distancing refers to participants who have moved away from the abusive experience both psychologically and physically, using defense mechanisms such as avoiding thinking about the abuse, restructuring the sociocultural context as disappointing and estranged, and physically moving away from their community and the cultural norms. The integration pattern was manifested in two ways. One integration pattern was a more accepting tone of the sociocultural reality, which may reflect the continued coercive control and power dynamics of traditional Arab society, through the use of rationalization and a positive restructuring of self, based on having respect for the culture and not breaking up the family. The other integration pattern was a more critical tone toward Arab society. While staying part of the community, these participants actively set new boundaries in their interpersonal relationships, in some cases breaking sociocultural barriers by studying, working, and expanding their social network. These patterns correspond with the complex reality young Arab women are faced with, as they negotiate between political, cultural, social, and institutional spaces, which can be oppressive or beneficial. The movement between the spaces can provide multiple coping opportunities and alternative patterns of feminine agency. The ability to move between the social and psychological schemas depends on the women’s resilience as well as the lenience of the power structures and control they are coping with. However, the emotional distress, sacrifice, and loss accompany their transitions (Abu-Rabia-Queder & Weiner-Levy, 2013).

Limitations

Since this was a qualitative study, the sample was purposive, aimed at achieving homogeneity for the sake of conceptual and theoretical representation; thus, there is no representation of young Arab Christian women or women who had been removed from their homes by the social services in childhood due to the abuse. In addition, data analysis relied on the authors’ interpretation of the interviews. Despite validation by external referees, it is possible that personal interactions and points of view affected data interpretation.

Conclusions and Implications

From an intersectional theoretical lens, our findings extend typically Western studies on coping strategies following girl abuse by underscoring the influences of the sociocultural and sociopolitical environments that shape the marginalized positions of young Arab women as well as their coping processes of being abused as girls. Our study highlights the ways in which coping strategies that are likely to emerge over time are shaped by their life context. Nonetheless, additional context sensitive research is needed on young Arab women to enrich the existing limited literature and inform designers of intervention programs and policy makers.

Our study suggests that the developmental stage of young adulthood may be a critical phase for reaching out to young Arab women who have experienced abuse, as they are struggling to find their own way in the world. The social policy toward young Arab women should stem from acknowledging their right and abilities to thrive. More specifically, increasing their accessibility to higher education and employment can facilitate their economic independence as well as their overall sense of empowerment. It would also be beneficial to launch awareness campaigns to enhance knowledge of formal resources available, such as professional, clinical, and therapeutic interventions, safety planning, and so on.

In addition, the findings of the study regarding formal and informal support reflect a cumulative effect of the barriers ranging from macrolevels to microlevels, which create a mechanism of silencing the abuse (Meler, 2015). The fact that over time only a few participants in this study used formal support systems in order to cope with their traumatic experiences calls for a critical examination of the social and mental health services provided. More resources should be invested in the provision of adapted intervention programs aimed to prevent the abuse of girls and its consequences in Arab society in Israel. These interventions must address the intersectionality of the marginalized gender, class, ethnicity, and nationality of Arab girls and women (Damant et al., 2008). Moreover, there is a need for training professionals in order for them to bridge the gap between the personal and the political and build effective partnerships with women, which are based on respect of their own knowledge and experiences (Krumer-Nevo & Komem, 2015).