Violence against women is a serious health and social problem for women worldwide. Researchers have investigated the broad\r\nphysical and mental health consequences of violence against women but few have focused on immigrant and refugee women.\r\nWe assessed the history of violence and the impairment of physical and mental health among 60 women participants from the\r\nIranian and Sri Lankan Tamil communities in Toronto, Canada. Our survey findings revealed that the participants had experienced\r\nvarious types of violence throughout their lifespan, with psychological abuse by a spouse/partner occurring most frequently in the\r\npast 12 months. Commonly reported types of abuse included insulting, criticizing, and intimidation by partner (psychological\r\nabuse); slapping, hitting, and shoving (physical abuse); and forced sexual intercourse and sexually degrading acts (sexual abuse)\r\nby a partner/spouse. We found that a substantial proportion of the participants also had experienced physical and mental health\r\nimpairment, which could be a result of the various types of violence they had experienced throughout their lifespan. Research and\r\npractice implications are provided.
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