'I thought in order to get to God I had to win their approval': a qualitative analysis of the experiences of Muslim victims abused by religious authority figures

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Chowdhury, R. ORCID: 0000-0001-5974-7190, Winder, B. ORCID: 0000-0002-9118-679X, Blagden, N. ORCID: 0000-0002-4037-0984 and Mulla, F., 2021. 'I thought in order to get to God I had to win their approval': a qualitative analysis of the experiences of Muslim victims abused by religious authority figures. Journal of Sexual Aggression. ISSN 1355-2600

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2021.1943023

Abstract

The abuse of individuals by religious authority figures has generated considerable political, civic and media attention. To date, much of this focus has been on Catholic and Anglican priests, although instances in the Buddhist community have also emerged. This paper presents an analysis of the experiences of individuals (n=6) who were victims of abuse by Imams (Muslim leaders) and/or Muslim faith teachers. Participants were interviewed and their accounts analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). This paper presents two superordinate themes that emerged from the rich data set: (i) Toxicity of silence and (ii) Barriers to the acknowledgement of abuse. Findings and implications of the research are discussed in relation to facilitating the reporting of abuse perpetrated by religious authority figures in the Muslim community. The authors argue that the difficulties for victims in reporting abuse has exacerbated the impact of the abuse on them, affecting their wellbeing and their relationships with their families and their faith.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Journal of Sexual Aggression

Creators:

Chowdhury, R., Winder, B., Blagden, N. and Mulla, F.

Publisher:

Taylor and Francis

Date:

22 June 2021

ISSN:

1355-2600