Unemployment has caused upheavals in several immigrant families. Cases of wife abuse and suicide by teenagers have been reported where adjustment to the new society is lacking. Most maladjusted families have a violent background. Organisations like the National Indo-Canadian Council (nic), the Association of Women of India in Canada (awic) and the Kesri Ribbon Project have been helping the victims and their families articulate their woes to the Canadian government.
The nic and awic recently organised national seminars on abuse against Indian housewives, in which leading Canadian counsellors, psychologists and abused women spoke up. Kesri Ribbon is carrying on a door-to-door campaign trying to solicit support for their project that aims to reduce the rate of suicides amidst disturbed immigrant teenagers.
According to Gita Morar, nic president, bread-winning wives are particularly vulnerable in traditional families, especially when the husband is unemployed. It's this role reversal which apparently caused an otherwise sane man to stab his working wife to death. In yet another case, a doctor shot his employed wife and then committed suicide.
For Baldev Mutta, community development officer with a regional municipality who answers a lot of calls from abuse victims, it is really racism that is the culprit. An Indian husband takes out his frustrations on his wife when he isn't accepted in the new society. Doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, the cream of the professionals who come here, are not allowed to practice by the regulatory bodies. They are denied the licence and have to go back to university to get their Canadian degree. Similarly, 'Canadian experience' is demanded, even for a dishwasher's job, he says.
Mutta also faults the Indians' lack of resume writing and interview skills for their poor showing in the job market. The other problem with Indians is that they are always on the lookout for quick and easy money, he says. The long waiting period to start a practice is given up in favour of a job as a cab driver or a waiter, where the tips are an additional attraction. Then, one gets stuck with it, because money becomes the sole objective.
