Giving marginalised women a voice

Farjana Mahbuba is using her PhD research to give marginalised migrant women a voice. Working under the supervision of ACU’s National School of Arts and Humanities and Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, she is gathering data about financial spousal abuse in the Muslim Bangladeshi community in Australia and hopes her work will lead to lifechanging policy reform. 

Most government and community programs aimed at helping survivors of domestic abuse focus on the physical and emotional impact. But there is a hidden type of abuse that doesn’t leave bruises.

Spousal financial abuse disproportionately affects women and is particularly prevalent in migrant communities where the husband or male partner is traditionally expected to take charge of family finances. Migrant women often come to Australian on a dependant visa and they may lack English language skills, community networks and an understanding of their rights under Australian law.

After completing her first PhD, which examined the intersection between gender and religion, Dr Mahbuba took a career break, running a clothing business from her home while raising her two young daughters.

Her customers were mainly women from the local Muslim Bangladeshi community, and it was their stories that inspired her to return to academia.

“The ladies would come in, and when they paid, they brought out the cash from their undergarments,” Dr Mahbuba said.

“You could see they had saved it and hidden it away – all in $5 notes, $10 notes. Some women would come in with their husband and I could see that the husbands made the choices for them.

“For the four years that I ran the business, my observation told me there was something very wrong. I could see every day that there were underlying issues in the community that no one was talking about.”

Community connections essential

Dr Mahbuba said her links to the community gave her unique perspective and access, allowing her to reveal these women’s heartbreaking stories.

“The women I have been interviewing often lack knowledge about the Australian legal and welfare system. If just one person from a government department could meet them in person after migration to see how the wife is doing, I think it would make a difference.

“At the moment, the only person bringing information is their husbands and they are obviously a filter. Any information they think may change the wife or empower her often doesn’t get shared.

“These women are lost and living in very much isolation. One of the research participants I interviewed was living in a single room and sharing a house with her brother-in-law and his wife. She lived six years of her life barely leaving that room.

“Some of the stories are distressing – it seems inconceivable that situations like this are possible in Australia, because it’s close to slavery.  I feel like we’re failing women like this – no one knows they exist.

“Sometimes it’s not as obvious – I interviewed a woman who lived in a big house, but she was just as isolated – her husband was the only person that she knew in Australia and her husband had slowly chipped away at her confidence.”

Even those women who do find the opportunity to leave, Dr Mahbuba says they may be forced to return due to a lack of access to support and information. 

“Many of them have no idea who to contact for help. One woman I interviewed actually tried to get out and went to a friend’s house with her two kids. She eventually had to come back because she didn’t know how to provide for her kids – so they prefer to cope with the abuse, rather than putting themselves in an uncertain situation. 

“A common technique seen in spousal financial abuse is fear through misinformation – their husbands tell them if they leave, their visa will be cancelled and they will be sent back to Bangladesh and their children taken away.”

Dr Mahbuba hopes her research will help bridge the gap between government and marginalised migrant communities.

“There are so many things that aren’t said, or are culturally specific, that a person doing research from outside the community might not understand,” she said.

“These women have opened up in a way I didn't expect. I’ve had women ask me to tell the government what is happening because they don’t want other women to go through the same thing.

“These women tell me they want me to continue with this research, because it is helping change their lives. And I’m hoping my research will eventually inform government policy. We need to make a bridge between the migrant community and the system and I feel like my PhD is actually one step towards building that bridge.”

Acts of courage

“They are so brave. This is one thing I learned about my community – many of them have very difficult lives, but they have a very strong need to tell their stories to try and help other women.

“I am really impressed with their resilience - they're fighting culture and religion, then there is this misinformation about Australian mainstream society.”

Dr Mahbuba has always been fascinated by the intersection of gender and religion and says her own upbringing in Bangladesh gave her the desire to make a difference with her work.

“My passion has always been about how religion and politics intersect with women’s lives,” she said. “Both of my parents are politicians, so it’s in my blood. My mum always had so many books – under our beds and every chair, even under our dining table!

“Both my parents were very engaged with society, and our home was like a political office, there were always people coming and going, and my parents would try and help anyone who was a victim of injustice.

“For my own daughters, they see how important my work is to me. My eldest daughter asked me the other day why other mums don’t have a study table. They know that Mum's study table is the most important thing in their house.”

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