Patterns of Receiving Support and Barriers to Service Consumption among Young Arab Women in Israel

Abstract

The present study examined the links between background variables, exposure to child abuse, patterns of using support, and barriers to services consumption among 482 young Arab women in Israel aged (18–26). The participants are Arab citizens of Israel and were recruited through snowball sampling. The results show that their acquaintance with services was consistently higher than their consumption. Most participants believed they were capable of managing on their own or with the help of family or friends. More than a third reported distrust in the ability of the services to assist them, cultural misunderstanding, preference of services provided anonymously, and too much bureaucracy as barriers to service use. The greater the abuse or neglect in childhood, the lower the satisfaction with the use of services and the greater the barriers to services experienced. A positive link was found between poor economic status and the barriers. The findings suggest a need for adjustment of the services offered to young Arab women as ethnic minority group to increase their motivation to receive support.