"Never mind, my dear, endure it, bear it": Responses to and interpretations of intrafamilial physical child abuse among Palestinian Muslim survivors in Israel.

BACKGROUND

Although children's responses to abuse are well documented, less is known about how those responses unfold in marginalized, conservative communities experiencing political instability.

OBJECTIVES

This study examines responses and interpretations of responses to intrafamilial physical child abuse among Palestinian Muslim survivors in Israel.

METHODS

Seventeen Palestinian Muslim adults (12 women, 5 men, aged 19-54) with histories of continuous intrafamilial physical abuse in childhood participated. They were recruited via social media and engaged in in-depth narrative interviews between May 2022 and January 2023. The interviews were analyzed using categorical-content analysis.

RESULTS

Participants coped with ongoing intrafamilial physical child abuse through various mechanisms, including emotional withdrawal, invisibility, cognitive and imaginative escape, spiritual coping, and unsuccessful help-seeking due to systemic barriers. Their responses to the abuse were shaped by socialization, gender norms, religion, political oppression and state violence, which reinforced their endurance, silence, and distrust of authorities.

CONCLUSIONS

The study reveals how cultural, gendered, and systemic factors shape survivors' responses to abuse, emphasizing the need for interventions targeting both individual trauma and broader societal and systemic oppression.