SECTION 5: PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS

In this section, Table 1 provides demographic and FV information on the participants, followed by a short profile of each participant and a summary of their experience of FV.

Table 1: Profile of Participants

Abi

Abi is a 29-year-old female who identifies as a Sri Lankan Tamil Canadian. Abi lives with her parents and siblings in a city in Quebec. She is the middle child of three. As a child, Abi witnessed her father physically abusing her mother, who lives with schizophrenia and alcoholism. Abi herself has been living with schizophrenia for the past ten years and is currently accessing the counselling program through her university while she works to complete her undergraduate studies. Abi had an unstable relationship with her mother and siblings as a child and teenager, which she has worked to mend in the past few years.

Adriana

Adriana is a 21-year-old female who identifies as a Syrian-Arab permanent citizen living in an Ontario city. Adriana’s parents moved to China from Syria when Adriana was 12 years old. Adriana’s experience of abuse began soon after moving to China when she resisted wearing a hijab. What began as spiritual abuse from her parents evolved into severe physical and psychological abuse. At the age of 18, Adriana escaped from home and attempted to live on her own. She was unsuccessful, and when law enforcement officers and the Syrian Embassy in China supported her parents, she decided to leave the country. Seeking support from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she has come to Canada and lives in an Ontario city since 2021. Adriana has Complex-PTSD and is receiving mental health support. She is also pursuing undergraduate studies at a university.

Anita

Anita is a 21-year-old female who identifies as Bangladeshi Canadian. She is pursuing her undergraduate degree in nursing. Anita has two parents and an older and younger sister. They immigrated to Canada from Saudi Arabia and settled in an Ontario city. After they immigrated to Canada, her father expected his daughters to attend an Islamic school. Anita and her sister convinced him they should attend a public school. The agreement was that they would attend an Islamic school if they did not perform well in public school. They both worked extremely hard to remain in public school. Due to performance anxiety, Anita is currently in an undergraduate program and experiences excessive stress before every exam. In addition to school, Anita takes care of her younger sister and struggles to balance her studies and family responsibilities.

Chiairo

Chiairo is a 25-year-old female who identifies as Indian with Canadian citizenship and is pursuing a professional degree. Chiairo lost her father, and her mother remarried a Polish man. Chiairo did not have a good relationship with her stepfather, and throughout the interview, she referred to him as her mother’s husband. She saw him controlling who her mother socialized with to prevent her from working outside the home. He also physically abused her mother. This abuse made Chiairo anxious. After her stepfather died, her mother connected with another man, and she was anxious that her mother might make the same mistake again. Chiairo is currently accessing mental health support through the university.

Jasmine

Jasmine is a 29-year-old female who identifies as Bangladeshi Canadian. She has completed her undergraduate degree and is currently pursuing a college diploma. Jasmine was unaware of any violence before the family’s immigration when she was ten years old. After immigration, she witnessed arguments between her parents. Her father spanked Jasmine and her brother when they did not receive good grades in school. The father was very strict and did not allow Jasmine to go to friends’ homes and socialize with children from the community. After completing high school, Jasmine left home for university. In her first year of university, Jasmine did not get good grades and developed severe somatic complaints, later diagnosed as related to stress. Due to low grades, Jasmine’s parents refused to let her find a summer job. That was the last summer Jasmine spent at home. Jasmine completed her undergraduate studies with much debt. After much work on both sides, Jasmine has reconciled with her parents and regularly visits them.

Jay

Jay is a 28-year-old male who identifies as a Sri Lankan Tamil Canadian. He has completed a diploma in criminal justice and is working while living with his parents. As a child, Jay often experienced small physical fights between his parents, and he assumed that it was normal. However, when Jay was in grade five, he witnessed his father seriously physically abuse his mother resulting in a head injury. Jay asked his father to call 911, and when he refused, he called. According to Jay, this incident taught his father a lesson, and he has not repeated the physical abuse. Jay believes the incident has not affected his relationship with his father. However, their relationship deteriorated because of his brother’s and sister’s refusal to support him when he tried to support their mother.

Maria

Maria is a 23-year-old female who identifies as Guyanese and is an international student. She lives in an Ontario city and is doing a college diploma in social service work. Maria has two stepsisters from her mother’s earlier marriage, but there is a significant age gap between them. In childhood, Maria witnessed physical, verbal, and financial abuse committed against her mother by her father. Maria’s parents eventually separated, after which Maria lived with her mother. Her father violated the parenting court order several times, and the ensuing conflict has impacted Maria. Despite interventions, she began to self-harm and didn’t stop until she had some distance from her family and found resources at the university. She maintains an inconsistent relationship with her father, but his health is a source of anxiety for her.

Maya

Maya is a 22-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil Canadian female pursuing an undergraduate nursing degree. Maya is the oldest of three children. From a young age, Maya witnessed frequent arguments and physical fights between her parents, often alcohol-related, which resulted in her mother throwing things. The fights would result in her father leaving home, and on one occasion, he left home for almost two years. During his absence, Maya’s mother developed a gambling addiction and spent much of her salary on gambling. Her mother verbally abused Maya and her siblings and was often absent. Maya sought support from her uncle (mother’s brother), aunt (mother’s sister), and grandmother when the need arose and kept them informed about what was happening at home. The abuse Maya experienced from her mother has profoundly impacted her relationship with her. While Maya has mended her relationship with her father, who is currently old and ill, she does not relate to her mother as she believes she will never change.

Samantha

Samantha is a 25-year-old female from Pakistan and a Canadian citizen. To escape from her husband’s abuse, her mother came to Canada from Pakistan with five-year-old Samantha. After a three-year stay, they returned to Pakistan. The reunion with the abusive husband/father did not go well for either of them, and after two or three years in Pakistan, Samantha and her mother immigrated to Canada (leaving behind three children). Her mother’s inability to bring all her children to Canada impacted her mental health, and eventually, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia. This left Samantha navigating housing, school, Child Protective Services (CPS), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), and mental health systems. When Samantha was 12/13, she had to manage her mother’s hospitalizations with the help of her maternal uncle. When she was 18, Samantha sponsored her siblings, who were approved for immigration in 2021, fulfilling her mother’s dream. Over the course of her life, Samantha has frequently experienced depression and has not found the resources to support her healing.

Sandiran

Sandiran is 26-year-old non-binary Sri Lankan Tamil Canadian. Sandiran is the youngest of three siblings. All family members lived together in a city in Quebec until Fall 2020, when Sandiran moved to Ontario to study medicine. Their father suffered war trauma and developed schizophrenia. He controlled his hallucinations through drinking which led to severe physical abuse of their mother that was often witnessed by the children. The children worked together to protect their mother. Despite a chaotic home environment, Sandiran did well in school and university. While in school, Sandiran experienced suicidal ideation, and in the first year of university, Sandiran had a psychotic episode. Sandiran and their elder brother have been contributing to the household income since the age of 16. The severe violence they experienced affected the relationships between the siblings significantly, but they have mended their relationship over the years.

Sonia

Sonia is a 26-year-old Indian Canadian female living in Ontario. She is currently pursuing a career in healthcare. From childhood, Sonia knew that her parents did not get along, but this escalated in 2020 when her father physically abused her mother, followed by police involvement. The incident impacted Sonia negatively; she lost her hospital internship. It took some time for Sonia to emerge from this trauma and reroute her life. She saw a counsellor for some time but discontinued this as she did not find it beneficial. The incident of abuse has impacted her parents’ relationship, and her father does not live with the family anymore. Her mother hopes that her husband will reconcile with her. Even though her father does not live at home, he pays the house mortgage. After the incident, Sonia began to support her mother financially. She also remains in touch with her father and supports him by doing his laundry and other chores.

Viktor

Viktor is a 21-year-old male who identifies as a Pakistani Canadian. He is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree. Viktor’s mother left her husband when Viktor was five years old. He had witnessed his father physically abusing his mother. When he misbehaved, his father would sometimes discipline him physically. His mother began an independent life with Viktor and his two siblings. Viktor has been sensitive to his responsibility in caring for his mother since that time. He tries to support his mother by taking care of his siblings.