Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Elias, Haneen
• Alnabilsy, Raghda
• Pagorek-Eshel, Shira
• Levin, Lia

Titel

Structural and Socio-Political Barriers to Providing Services to Arab-Palestinian Young Women: Social Workers’ Perspectives

Ist Teil von

• The British journal of social work, 2024-03, Vol.54 (2), p.568-586

Ort / Verlag

Oxford University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

Oxford Journals 2020 Medicine

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Abstract The aim of the study was to understand structural and socio-political barriers faced by social workers to providing services to Arab-Palestinian young women abused in childhood, considering their multiple marginalisation. The literature has addressed the structural barriers in terms of the written policy and the social services provided to the Arab-Palestinian minority. However, little is known about how these barriers affect the provision of services to Arab-Palestinian young women abused in childhood from the perspective of service providers. To address this gap, twenty-one social workers were interviewed in depth. The findings revealed two main themes: (i) structural discrimination and the socio-political context of Arab Palestinians in Israel; (ii) challenges and structural barriers at the level of social policy. Our findings shed light on the oppressive othering of Arab-Palestinian young women, who feel invisible vis- à-vis governmental organisations. Thus, social workers working in the field should examine the needs of the young women and work in collaboration with senior government officials to promote culture- and gender-adapted programmes. Little is known about social workers who work with minorities living in conflict areas, such as Arab-Palestinian young women in Israel who were abused in childhood. They face various intensified barriers to providing services, which are related, amongst other things, to the majority–minority relationship. Our study aimed to clarify the barriers faced by social workers who provide services to these women. The findings show the social workers’ point of view regarding poverty, social exclusion and discrimination against Arabs in Israel. Their challenges include the lack of adapted services, inaccessibility of services, a policy that neglects dealing with risk situation by social workers and the young women’s perception of social workers as representatives of the establishment. Our conclusions show that social workers need to understand the cultural, social and political context in which Arab-Palestinian young women live in Israel. Moreover, policy makers need to provide a tailored response both to the young women and their social workers, such as contextual awareness training.