Advocate’s Tool Box

Introduction

Battered immigrant women in our country face many barriers.  The victims, the abusers, family members, and even communities may hide the problem because of fear or because they do not know what to do.  NCCADV’s Immigrant Project is committed to strengthen the voices of battered immigrants and organizations that serve this population.

Through community education as well as media outreach, NCCADV’s Immigrant Project, will work to build understanding of the immigrant experience and foster cooperation between immigrant communities and potential allies.

An effective outreach program begins with a plan, the question of how to target this population must begin with a thorough understanding of who they are and why they are not using project services. Is there a language barrier, a breakdown in communications, a cultural antipathy to your approach? None of these questions can be answered until more is known about the target audience.

General knowledge about the local immigrant community cultures, as well as specific facts about the individuals in the local community can be easily found and used to develop a successful outreach program--one that delivers useful services in a manner compatible with the target audience. Multiple strategies, persistence, sensitivity to audience response, and a willingness to learn are successful strategies for reaching our immigrant population.

Making Your Programs Accessible

• Make an assessment of the accessibility of your program to battered immigrant women. This assessment will help you break down the barriers that may keep an immigrant woman from getting help from your program.

• Through examining your accessibility, you will be taking a big step forward.  It will take a collaborative effort by more than one individual to make a program accessible, but the genuine concern and commitment of one person can make a big difference.

• Do community outreach: Identify population groups you are not serving, as well as agencies and organizations that serve those communities; locate immigrant organizations in your area which could provide support and assistance; collaborate and partner with organizations established within immigrant communities.

• Provide language accessibility: If your program does not have multilingual staff or volunteers, develop a referral list for translators; all translators should receive domestic violence training; when deciding whether a client needs a translator, be aware that you should provide her with assistance in the language she most comfortably speaks.

• Recruit multilingual and multicultural people: To become a truly accessible organizations to immigrant women, improve the diversity of your staff and volunteers; develop materials translated into all the languages spoken by the communities you seek to serve.

• Conduct ongoing trainings: Provide regular training in languages other than English as one way to work towards recruitment of multicultural and multilingual volunteers and staff.

• Assist with transportation: Be aware that you may need to explain to some immigrant women in detail about how to use public transportation and how to reach their destination; some women may require accompaniment to appointments, if they are not comfortable navigating the transportation system.

• You should ensure that a culturally appropriate environment is available for immigrant women and children, who need to feel at home in the shelter. Be aware that some immigrant women are not used to Western style beds or to separate beds for their children. You should provide food that immigrant women are familiar with. If shelter residents share responsibilities for cooking, immigrant women should be given the opportunity to cook the food they are accustomed to.

• Be aware that there may be racial tension in your shelter between residents from different communities, or between residents and staff of different backgrounds. Develop a policy for residents and staff to follow which will ensure the safety and well-being of all residents of your shelter.

Barriers Faced by Immigrants
Battered immigrant women face many difficult barriers. The obstacles they encounter can be attributed to a combination of language, culture, citizenship status, or lack of access to services.

In addition to the physical violence, a battered immigrant woman may experience:

• ISOLATION: The abusing partner often keeps his victim isolated from family and friends - and from anyone who speaks her language. He also may not allow her to learn English.
• THREATS: He may threaten to report her to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and get her deported. Or he may threaten to withdraw the petition to legalize her immigration status.
• INTIMIDATION: He may hide or destroy important papers (such as her passport, identification card, Green card, health insurance card. He also may destroy the only property she has from her country of origin, including important mementos.
• CITIZENSHIP OR RESIDENCY PRIVILEGE USED AGAINST HER: The abusive husband may fail to file papers to legalize her immigration status, or withdraw (or threaten to withdraw) papers that have been filed.
• ECONOMIC ABUSE: He may report her to the INS if she works "under the table" -- or threaten to do so. He may not let her obtain job training or schooling so she can become financially independent.
• EMOTIONAL ABUSE: The abusive spouse may lie about her immigration status. He may write lies about her to her family and friends. He may call her racist names.
• CHILDREN USED: He may threaten to take her children away from the United States, or to report her children to the INS. Or he may threaten to hurt them.
• LANGUAGE BARRIERS: When a battered immigrant woman tries to get assistance from a domestic violence agency, she may not be able to use the help that is offered because it is not in her language and no one is available to translate.
• CULTURAL ISSUES: Services provided by domestic violence programs may not address relevant cultural issues, so the agency may propose ideas that are not culturally appropriate or may not be able to offer her the right kind of assistance.
• LACK OF ACCESS TO SERVICES:
  Domestic violence agencies may not understand the intricacies of immigration law and issues, and therefore be unable to help her solve her problems. Immigration agencies or attorneys may not recognize the signs of domestic violence, or know how to help.

Power and Control Tactics
Used Against Immigrant Women



 

This version of the Power and Control wheel, adapted with permission from the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project in Duluth, Minnesota, focuses on some of the many ways battered immigrant women can be abused.

Cultural Issues

While cultural differences must be considered when one looks at the problem of domestic violence in various ethnic communities, remember that violence in the family is not the norm in any culture.

Most individuals, men and women alike, find it hard to leave any relationship. They want to believe in the positive aspects of the relationship and to minimize the bad. This may be particularly true for immigrant and refugee battered women who are trying to survive with their families in a new country. The battered immigrant woman may be, not only a victim of a violent man, but also of a culture that sanctions inequality between women and men and pressures her to accept this inequality. For her to decide to leave her home, she often must challenge the strict codes of ethics of her family, her upbringing, and her culture.

There may be a common belief in many immigrant and refugee communities that the close-knit nature of the family prevents domestic violence from occurring and that the family is the only appropriate forum for dealing with such problems. Outside interference is not encouraged or accepted. Some communities may resist acknowledging that domestic violence exists, that remedies should be sought, or that women have the right to seek alternatives independent of their abusive partners.

Those who work with battered immigrant women should recognize the cultural conflicts facing their clients. For instance, the western cultural assumption that women should be independent and free to make individual choices leaves many immigrant women feeling ambivalent, bewildered, or immobilized. Acting on this assumption of individual independence may cut them off from family ties and community support, and leave them far more isolated and vulnerable than it would a non-immigrant.

Be aware of what a battered immigrant woman may have gone through to come to the United States, and what it may mean for her to escape the violence. If she leaves the relationship, she may need to leave the only community she knows in the United States.

There are no simple answers to these dilemmas, except that legal and social service providers should view immigrant women both as individuals and as members of a community with its own customs and pressures. Training in cultural competency will better equip those who work with immigrant women to deal effectively with these issues.

Basic rules in working with battered immigrant women:

1.  Never contact the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to verify a person's immigrant status.

2.  Never tell a non-citizen to go to the INS without the accompaniment/advice of an immigration expert.

3.  Help non-citizens prepare for encounters with the INS.

4.  Encourage non-citizens to talk to an immigration expert before they leave the United States.

5.  Tell non-citizens with questions about their immigration status to talk to an immigration advocate with expertise in domestic violence.

6.  Work to ensure non-citizens get necessary public benefits.