Best Practice Strategies for Service Engagement with Female Victim/Survivors of Family Violence from Culturally Diverse Communities

Abstract

Purpose: Few studies explore practitioners’ perspectives on effective strategies to engage with women from multicultural communities. This study examines the experiences of employees at a specialist family violence service in delivering services to women from culturally diverse communities to develop best practice strategies. Method: Utilizing focus group discussion, this study conducted an in-depth analysis of practitioners’ expert perspectives and experiences in engaging with women from culturally diverse communities and supporting them to access their services and to gain help for family violence related concerns. Results: We generated seven key themes through thematic analysis and informed the development of 16 recommendations related to cultural awareness and education, community engagement and support, cultural understanding and responsiveness, cultural awareness training and workforce diversity, collaboration and holistic support, barriers to accessing support and the importance of targeted data collection. Conclusion: This study contributes to research on help-seeking behavior and service engagement in culturally diverse communities. It identifies factors highlighted by experienced practitioners for engaging culturally diverse communities and providing culturally sensitive support. The findings could improve cultural safety and service provision for all victim/survivors.