Exploring domestic violence in the black minority ethnic (BME) pentecostal community in the South of England.

Over the years, a great deal of effort has been invested in the field of women’s wellbeing and the effects of domestic violence both to the individual and their family; as these are problems that abound in everyday life from nation to nation and to people of all faith and non-believers.
From the Literature, it can be noticed that there is a lot of awareness of domestic violence being raised through the media and different organisations standing against domestic violence throughout the UK. There are services, campaigns and many organisations working together in order to raise awareness. However, it appears that there exists a cultural barrier preventing the national awareness from having an impact upon the Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities.
As a female cleric in the BME community, I noted that abuse is a problem experienced by some women and these women depend on the church to meet their spiritual needs, so the church needs to take on the responsibility of eradicating domestic violence in order not to fail the people.
The objective of this study is therefore to identify the barriers to creating an awareness of domestic violence in the Pentecostal community and also to identify the best strategies by which an effective awareness of domestic violence can be achieved in this community. The choice of method for this research is that of a Case Study. The data method of collection was qualitative and the styles of collection from study participants were Questionnaire, Focus group and Interview.
The outcome of this research is a series of recommendations for change in the domestic violence support service in order to reach the BME Pentecostal community.