Structural and Socio-Political Barriers to Providing Services to Arab-Palestinian Young Women: Social Workers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the study was to understand structural and socio-political barriers faced by social workers to providing services to Arab-Palestinian young women abused in childhood, considering their multiple marginalisation. The literature has addressed the structural barriers in terms of the written policy and the social services provided to the Arab-Palestinian minority. However, little is known about how these barriers affect the provision of services to Arab-Palestinian young women abused in childhood from the perspective of service providers. To address this gap, twenty-one social workers were interviewed in depth. The findings revealed two main themes: (i) structural discrimination and the socio-political context of Arab Palestinians in Israel; (ii) challenges and structural barriers at the level of social policy. Our findings shed light on the oppressive othering of Arab-Palestinian young women, who feel invisible vis- à-vis governmental organisations. Thus, social workers working in the field should examine the needs of the young women and work in collaboration with senior government officials to promote culture- and gender-adapted programmes.