Legal Rights & Responsibilities

Fact & Policy

Resources

BACK TO HOMEPAGE

CAUTION!

This site is no longer actively maintained. It remains on-line as a historical exhibit about immigration, and as a record of creative research and service by University of Tennessee law students. The issues dealt with here are still fascinating and timely, but viewers should use caution. Any specific legal information contained on this site should not be relied upon, because it may have changed in the intervening years. For additional information about this site and the decision to leave it on the web, visit the home page: http://web.utk.edu/~tnlatina/

~Domestic Violence~

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP: GLOBALIZATION AND THE ROLE OF SERVICE PROVIDERS TO IMMIGRANT BATTERED WOMEN
CONTACTS/SHELTERS/ADVOCATES

Community Partnership:

Globalization and the Role of Service Providers to

Immigrant Battered Women

Hispanics from Mexico and Central America can be found in nearly every kitchen, Wal-Mart, on nearly every construction site in Knoxville, expending their labor and strengthening the economic base of East Tennessee. The Hispanic community is no longer limited to the transitory "migrant" farmer community seen only in the summers in Unicoi county harvesting tomatoes and strawberries, but are readily observed as kitchen labor, factory workers, earning money for their families here and their families in their native lands. Many of these immigrants have taken enormous risks and made significant sacrifices to find work in the United States. When they arrive however, they continue to be threatened daily with a fear of deportation and the ever-looming presence of the INS.

Now imagine being an immigrant woman, with a two-year-old child, who followed her husband here from Mexico. She and her husband are both undocumented. She speaks no English. Imagine further that she has no access to a car and spends her days keeping house and raising her child. She left her girlfriends behind in Mexico and she has not met any other Spanish-speaking women yet. She is isolated in her apartment with her toddler.

Imagine that one evening her husband comes home and has had a terrible day on the construction site. Imagine that his dinner is cold when he walks through the door. Imagine that as a child in Mexico, he saw his father hit his mother when the dinner was cold.

This scenario is not far fetched. It happens in every neighborhood, suburb, hollow, and city in America. The rich woman, the poor woman, the black, white, Hispanic, Asian woman all endure abuse on various levels every night when the dinner is cold, or the baby is crying. But imagine not being able to call for help if you needed it. Imagine not being able to call 911 because you don’t speak English, because you’re afraid of the INS, because you have been told not to trust American police officers, because you love your husband and you believe him when he says he’s sorry and it won’t happen again. Imagine not having a car and having nowhere to go if you had one. Imagine going to a women’s shelter and being turned away because they don’t have room for you and your three children, or no one there speaks Spanish, or they receive government funds and don’t want to take any chances with immigration and you don’t have any "papers" (passport, social security card, birth-certificate, etc.)

So what do you do? Pray… that’s what a lot of women do. Pray and hope that it won’t happen again, or that he won’t hit the children. Walk around on egg-shells because you never know when or why he might "lose his temper." Internalize the pain and live day to day like a prisoner of war, emotionless and void of all hope.

The differences that exist between the plight of the English-speaking battered woman born in the United States and the immigrant battered woman are many and deserve attention. A number of insightful articles have been written concerning the special needs of immigrant battered women in American society. In Helping Battered Women: New Perspectives and Remedies, 1996, a compilation of essays and articles, (edited by A.R. Roberts,) Gloria Bonilla-Santiago in her study of twenty five incarcerated battered Latina women, found that for a variety of reasons, including cultural and religious beliefs, Latina battered women typically do not utilize existing community agencies to escape from violent homes.

"There is compelling evidence that America’s new undocumented migrants are increasingly likely to be women and children. Many researchers have also indicated that more women will be migrating to the United States with their spouses because they are able to find jobs in the ‘hidden’ service economy. However, while more immigrant women are coming to the United States seeking a better quality of life for themselves and their families, the barriers they face are tremendous. Fearing deportation and/or the loss of her children, an immigrant battered woman may be intimidated by her partner’s threat to report her to the U.S. immigration and Naturalization Service if she leaves him or calls the police. She may not realize that domestic violence is against the law, that she has legal options to the stop the battering and that there are agencies and community resources available to support her."

Another significant difference between English-speaking American battered women and Hispanic women is their tolerance of abuse itself. In Battered Women as Survivors, Edward W. Gondolf and Ellen Fisher, 1988, address the racial differences among women in Texas women’s shelters, and conclude that Hispanic women are more likely to be tolerant of abuse and identified fewer types of behavior as abuse. (p.42.)

" The different racial groups of women reported receiving comparable kinds of physical, verbal, sexual and child abuse… The frequency of abuse was also relatively the same for all groups [blacks, whites, and Hispanics] (42% once a week.) The Hispanic women, however, tended to report the longest duration of abuse (32% more than five years versus 21% for the whites and blacks.)…In terms of help-seeking, the women from different racial groups sought about the same amount of different kinds of assistance prior to entering the shelter. Hispanic women, however, were the least likely to contact a friend, minister, or social service, suggesting their relative social isolation…Hispanic women also appear to be bound by a norm of ‘loyal motherhood.’ They tend to be married younger, have larger families, and stay in relationships longer. They are similarly poorer, less educated and longer abused than their counterparts. These findings point particularly to the difficult position of the Hispanic women in shelters. These women appear to be burdened not only by language differences and discrimination, but also by limited mobility, larger families, less personal income, and more imposing marital norms." (pp. 42-48.)

Hispanic battered women also face another unique barrier to safety from abuse. According to Jenny Rivera in her article, Domestic Violence Against Latinas by Latino Males: An Analysis of Race, National Origin, and Gender Differentials, (Boston College Third World Law Journal Vol. 14:189,1994) there is a long-standing tension that exists between the Hispanic community and law enforcement. Rooted in the heritage of abuse inflicted at the hands of government officials in their homeland, immigrants often come to the United States to escape police and military physical abuse, but at the same time are suspicious of and afraid of American police and the INS. Couple that with the history of racism and current racial tensions between the police and the Hispanic community and one can understand the tenuousness of any domestic violence enforcement strategy in these communities. (pp.246-247.)

It is understandable therefore that Latinas would be suspicious of police who have routinely acted violently and in a repressive manner toward the Hispanic community at large.

"In addition a Latina must decide whether to invoke assistance from and outsider who may not look like her, sound like her, speak her language, or share any of her cultural values…In situations where Latinas must rely on law enforcement officials for assistance, they usually meet officers who are not bilingual or bicultural… and the women therefore are left to care for themselves, to seek translation at a time of extreme danger and urgency." (p. 246.)

Rivera also suggests that law enforcement officials may not give adequate consideration to calls received from poor neighborhoods or neighborhoods with significant black and Hispanic populations. Domestic violence calls from these communities may be less likely to draw outside attention or interest and officials usually consider such work highly dangerous and unrewarding. (p.249.) The article also addresses the theory that there may be a sense among police officers that violent behavior is commonplace and acceptable within the Latino community, and that both Hispanic men and women expect Latinos to react physically in situations of domestic conflict. (p. 247.) With all of these barriers: language, fear of police, racism, culture, it is no wonder that Latina battered women tend to endure abuse for longer periods of time before ever seeking help, if they even seek help.

Suggested Solutions: These articles all state that consideration of and responsiveness to cultural and racial differences must be central to any strategies in the domestic violence movement. There must be education within the Hispanic community, specifically addressing domestic violence and its illegality, outreach to Hispanic women and domestic violence services tailored to their specific needs. Trust and good faith must be fostered between the police and the Hispanic community, and this is just the beginning. There are of course further issues of immigration and deportation- for more information on these topics, please see Paula Trujillo’s analysis of the Violence Against Women Act, also on this webpage.

Ultimately, the only way to truly help battered women is through empowerment. Programs and services that offer temporary relief from violence, but do not provide women with the tools or opportunities to develop the necessary skills, as well as the monetary and emotional resources to gain control of their lives permanently, are insufficient. Domestic violence activists must look at the specific barriers facing all battered women and then address the special needs of the women in their communities. As the number of Hispanic women grows in the United States, even here in East Tennessee, concern for the safety of all women must be expanded to encompass our Spanish speaking neighbors with all of their unique needs.

Please also see the following web-sites which specifically address the special needs of Hispanic battered women:

U.S. Department of Justice Violence Against Women Office- http://www.usdoj.gov/vawo/cycle.html

ABA Commission on Domestic Violence
http://www.abanet.org/domviol/home.html

911 for Women
http://www.feminist.org/911

Safety Net Domestic Violence Resources
http://www.cybergrrl.com/planet/dv

This page was created 04/99.

DISCLAIMER: This web page a work-in-progress. We are attempting to add to it as we learn more, and we make corrections when inaccuracies come to our attention.  If you observe any mistakes or have any suggested additions, please EMAIL US.  Even though our site is imperfect and not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice, we hope people will find it informative and helpful. In any case, visitors should not entirely rely on the completeness or accuracy of the information on the webpage, but should confirm information for themselves before making assumptions.

BANKS & MONEY/ CONSUMER LAW/ CRIMINAL LAW/ DISCRIMINATION/ DOMESTIC VIOLENCE/ EDUCATION/ DRIVER INFORMATION/ EDUCATION/ EMPLOYMENT/ FAMILY LAW/ FARMWORKERS/ HEALTH CARE/ HOUSING/ IMMIGRATION/ LANGUAGE ACCESS/ PUBLIC BENEFITS/ TAXES/ MISCELLANEOUS/ IMMIGRATION FACTS/ IMMIGRATION POLICY/ CONTACTS/ LINKS/ IMMIGRANTS' STORIES/ CHAT ROOM/ MESSAGE BOARDS/ HOT TOPICS/ OPPOSING OPINIONS/ SPANISH AUDIO/

Copyright ©  1999 by Ansley, Buck, Padawer, Reeves, Community Dev. Class