ORIGINAL RESEARCH Intimate male partner violence in the migration process: intersections of gender, race and class Sepali Guruge, Nazilla Khanlou & Denise Gastaldo Accepted for publication 4 September 2009 Correspondence to S. Guruge: e-mail: sguruge@ryerson.ca Sepali Guruge PhD RN Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator, Associate Professor Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Nazilla Khanlou PhD RN Ontario Women’s Health Council Chair in Women’s Mental Health Research, Faculty of Health, Associate Professor School of Nursing, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Denise Gastaldo PhD RN Associate Professor University of Toronto, Faculty of Nursing, Toronto, Ontario, Canada GURUGE S., KHANLOU N. & GASTALDO D. (2010) GURUGE S., KHANLOU N. & GASTALDO D. (2010) Intimate male partner vio- lence in the migration process: intersections of gender, race and class. Journal of Advanced Nursing 66(1), 103–113. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05184.x Abstract Title. Intimate male partner violence in the migration process: intersections of gender, race and class. Aim. This paper is a report of a study of Sri Lankan Tamil Canadian immigrants’ perspectives on factors that contribute to intimate male partner violence in the postmigration context. Background. Increasing evidence illustrates the extent and nature of intimate male partner violence and its links to a range of physical and mental health problems for women around the world. However, there has been little health sciences research on intimate male partner violence in the postmigration context in Canada. Methods. Data were collected for this qualitative descriptive study in 2004 and 2005, through individual interviews with community leaders (n = 16), four focus groups with women and four with men from the general community (n = 41), and individual interviews with women who had experienced intimate male partner violence (n = 6). The research was informed by a postcolonial feminist perspective and an ecosystemic framework. Findings. Participants’ conceptualization of the production of intimate male partner violence in the postmigration context involved (a) experiences of violence in the premigration context and during border crossing; (b) gender inequity in the marital institution; (c) changes in social networks and supports; and (d) changes in socio- economic status and privilege. Conclusion. Increasing immigration requires that nurses pay attention to and re- spond appropriately to women’s unique needs, based on complex and interrelated factors that produce intimate male partner violence in the postmigration context. Keywords: Canada, class, gender, intimate partner violence, migration process, race, Sri Lanka, Tamils Introduction Intimate partner violence is the threat of, and/or actual, physical, sexual, psychological, or verbal abuse by a current or former spouse or non-marital partner, as well as coercion, or the arbitrary deprivation of liberty that can occur in public or private life [United Nations (UN) 1993]. Intimate male partner violence (IMPV) is widely Ó 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation Ó 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 103 JAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING