Self-Defense Empowerment Programs and Discrimination Stress Sanjidah T. Chowdhury
The three and half million Muslim American population includes individuals of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, with a significant portion being immigrants from regions across the globe, such as South Asia, Middle East, and North Africa (Mohamed & Diamant 2019; Pew Research Center, 2015a, 2017, 2018). Muslims hold a religious minority status in the United States, which is predominantly Christian (Pew Research Center, 2015b), and are often the target of hatebased violence, which includes hate crimes and discrimination through the use of violence due to their religious, cultural, and social background (Amnesty International, n.d.; Pew Research Center, 2018; The United States Department of Justice, n.d.). Following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, hate crimes increased against Muslim Americans; there was an additonal increase in hate crimes after the 2016 presidential election, due to the discriminatory language perpetuated by the media and government about Muslims (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2000, 2001, 2016; Smith, 2013). In addition to the high levels of hate-based violence, the Trump Administration brought on an onslaught of institutionalized discriminatory policies, such as the immigration ban, which forbade individuals from nine Muslim majority countries to come to the United States (ACLU Washington, 2018). These events affected the Muslim population differently (Moagahed & Chouhoud, 2017; Pew Research Center, 2018). In particular, Muslim women in the United States face institutional discrimination through implementation of policies and practices targeting their religious expression as a woman (Demby, 2015). For instance, an example of gender discrimination includes young Muslim women who are rejected from jobs because wearing a hijab opposes workplace dress codes (Demby, 2015). Muslim American women are not only targets of hatebased violence, but of gender-based violence, as well (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2000, 2001, 2016; Pew Research Center, 2017). Gender-based violence encompasses physical and psychological violence, which is the result of two societal structures: (1) the unequal power relationships between men and women, where females are the predominant target; and (2) the binary normative role expectations, commonly understood as gender stereotypes, such as men are the financial provider, whereas women are the caretakers (World Health Organization, 2017). Due to the intersection of gender and religious identity, Muslim American women face more experiences of hate attacks, are more likely to fear for their safety, and report greater religious discrimination in comparison to Muslim American men (Moagahed & Chouhoud, 2017; Pew Research Center, 2017) and hijab wearing women face higher levels of threat than 18 | Research Proposal
non-hijab wearers (Pew Research Center, 2017). Notably, one in five Muslim American women seek the assistance of mental health professionals in order to cope with the stress and anxiety of the current political climate (Mogahed & Chouhoud, 2017). In fact, being under constant threat due to minority status can cause high levels of stress, a phenomenon commonly labeled as discrimination stress (American Psychological Association, n.d.). However, to date, research has not explored how interventions might support the mental health of Muslim Americans; instead, the focus of interventions has been on physical health, for example, adapting the space in the mosque to increase physical activity, or on Muslim women outside of the United States (see, for example, Banerjee et al., 2017; Guerin, Diiriye, Corrigan, & Guerin, 2003; Kalter-Leibovici et al., 2010). Despite the lack of research regarding discrimination stress experienced by Muslim American women, there are a number of community-oriented grassroots organizations in the United States - like Malikah - that seek to provide protective spaces to help Muslim American women cope with discrimination through programming and services with the goal of increasing feelings of empowerment (Malikah, 2018). Although these organizations utilize empowerments programs, these programs have not been investigated to see whether it is effective among the Muslim American women population. Women Empowerment Programs The Empowerment Program Model is understood as a redefining of power relations through addressing and changing unequal power dynamics (Rappaport, 1984; Zimmerman, 1990). This model is utilized in a communitylevel setting to empower marginalized and vulnerable groups to increase collective power, knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, and control (Ackerly, 1995; Cattaneo & Goodman, 2015, Kim, Crutchfield, Williams, & Hepler, 1998; Zimmerman, 1990). The mechanisms underlying the model focus on building critical consciousness, i.e., the ability to understand the structural and group contexts that impact groups and individuals’ lives, build community support, and serve as a resource to aid in collective action (Rappaport, 1984; Zimmerman, 1990). At the same time, building community support is important, as it provides individuals in the community the opportunity to work together and help each other to overcome structural challenges (Rappaport, 1984; Zimmerman, 1990). This model has been the framework for interventions for various populations to address their needs such as: substance abuse prevention for adolescents, coping strategies for domestic violence survivors, and self-management skills for diabetes
