**1. Introduction**

Domestic violence (DV) is a serious, global public health issue with long-term negative impacts on individuals, families, and societies (World Health Organization 2017). Domestic violence does not discriminate by income, race/ethnicity, nationality, belief system, gender, age, ability, or any other identity group. Although DV does not appear to be any more prevalent among refugees than it is among the general population, refugees experience unique challenges that might exacerbate their violent experience, make it difficult to seek help, and ultimately, impact their ability to leave a violent relationship (Menjívar and Salcido 2002; Runner et al. 2009).

Since 1980, approximately 3 million refugees have been resettled in the U.S. (Pew Research Center 2019). In the last decade, refugees from Burma, Iraq, and Bhutan have been the largest groups resettled in the U.S.'s 212 resettlement cities and more recently, refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Syria, Eritrea, and Somalia have resettled in larger numbers (Blizzard and Batalova 2019). Although the last few years have witnessed stark declines in refugee resettlement numbers in the U.S., the number of refugees globally is at a historic high (Pew Research Center 2019). Refugee communities should not be viewed as monolithic—each community has diverse sociocultural characteristics. Nevertheless, a unifying theme among newly resettled refugees is the difficulty they often experience in system navigation and help-seeking. For refugees affected by DV, challenges related to language, culture, migration and trauma histories, and gender roles all coalesce to make DV system navigation more difficult and help-seeking less likely (Bhuyan et al. 2005; Crandall et al. 2005; Latta and

Goodman 2005; Shiu-Thornton et al. 2005; Sullivan et al. 2005). For example, refugees may experience challenges communicating with the police or social service providers, navigating a complex legal system, or filling out any required paperwork along the way (Bhuyan et al. 2005; Crandall et al. 2005; Latta and Goodman 2005; Menjívar and Salcido 2002; Ortiz Hendricks 2009; Shiu-Thornton et al. 2005; Sullivan et al. 2005). Newly resettled refugees may not understand their rights in a U.S. context and may fear deportation of their partner if they disclose or report. Compounding these challenges, research shows that human service providers in the U.S. are often uncertain of how to e ffectively engage and intervene with the refugee community (Daniels and Belton 2015). If refugees face significant challenges in seeking help from formal DV service providers *and* service providers do not know how to support them, refugees who have been victimized by their partners may find it particularly di fficult to leave a violent relationship and find safety. It is critical that DV service providers recognize the unique experiences and challenges that refugees face, develop and adapt programs that are culturally responsive, and actively outreach to refugee communities in order to more e ffectively serve this special population.

Given the growing refugee population in the U.S., there is a need among DV agencies to better understand how to e ffectively serve refugee survivors. Although there is a growing body of literature related to culturally responsive service provision in health contexts, there is very little empirical work that directly informs culturally responsive service provision in domestic violence contexts, specifically focused on refugee populations. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to assess culturally responsive organizational practices among domestic violence agencies in U.S. resettlement cities in an attempt to gain a baseline understanding of organizational cultural responsiveness and inform future service provision and research.
