Abstract:
Past studies have shown that young Chinese in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have experienced various forms of dating violence. For young Chinese living in a cross-cultural environment, understanding dating violence may be more complicated due to their cultural, gender, and migrant backgrounds. Yet, in New Zealand, there is no research focusing on dating violence among young Chinese people.
This study attempts to fill this gap by investigating and discussing the perception, response, and help-seeking of young Chinese in New Zealand regarding dating violence. This thesis uses in-depth interviews to investigate the views of dating violence seven women and five men between the ages of 18 and 26 in the Auckland area.
This research found that young Chinese have a relatively comprehensive and extensive understanding of dating violence and the controlling behavior which maintains violent dynamics. However, Chinese patriarchal culture and gender norms still affect participants’ perceptions and responses to dating violence.
Both male and female participants tended to view the issue of dating violence as a couple-based communication problem but believed that the victim should bear the responsibility for solving the problem. They expect victims, especially female victims, to show responses that are different from traditional Chinese female images. Moreover, participants did not believe that violence committed by
women would have the results as violence committed by men. Male participants generally adopted a gender-neutral attitude to the discussion instead of treating dating violence as a gender issue. Female participants were more likely to connect dating violence with the discipline and restraint of Chinese culture on women.
Participants put forward suggestions for seeking formal and informal help. However, due to a lack of understanding of New Zealand's local social service agencies, they only emphasized the role of the police and psychological institutions, like counseling or therapy. In the discussion of help-seeking, they considered that promoting help-seeking requires more consideration of the culture, interests, and migrant background of young Chinese. The Chinese community, which is still silent about dating violence, needs more education, publicity programs, and anonymous supportive services based on Chinese language to eliminate the shame and social stigma of victims.