Victims of interpersonal violence face many challenges when trying to navigate through an abusive relationship. The dynamics of interpersonal violence are very complex and each situation has its’ own unique challenges. For people of color that are being victimized, intersecting oppressions such as institutionalized racism, gender oppression, and classism need to be taken into consideration when trying to construct procedures to help victims escape an abusive relationship.
Batterer’s use different power and control tactics to maintain control over their victims. They often use intersecting oppressions as tools to further victimize their partner and act as barriers to help seeking. For example, an undocumented immigrant woman who is victimized at home may not want to utilize public agencies such as the police for fear of deportation. While there are laws that prohibit law enforcement from using a victim’s citizenship status as a means to deport, given the current conservative climate, and issues surrounding immigration, the fear is still very real.
Also, access to accurate information may not be available to an undocumented victim because their partner controls their exposure to all forms of information. If a batterer is telling his partner that if she called the police then she will be deported, and if there are kids involved this means they may be taken away from her, the odds of her calling the police are slim to none. For example, research has shown that the majority of immigrant women seeking domestic violence services had a negative experience due to fear, denial of service, or detrimental outcomes. (Salcido & Adelman, 2004)
For people of color, race is another barrier for victims of interpersonal violence. The African American community has a long history of being mistrustful of the police and those in position of power because of the oppression and overt and covert racism they have endured for centuries. Domestic violence has historically been viewed as a familial problem and they are taught that all familial problems stay within the family, and are forbidden to seek “outside” help. Institutional racism can be offered as another reason Black women do not utilize public institutions for help with an abusive relationship. Race loyalty becomes a consideration for these women. The burden of feeling the need to protect the reputation of the Black man and not perpetuate existing stereotypes that Black men are hyper-violent becomes a part of their thought process and hinders Black women from enlisting help from the criminal justice system. Black women are acutely aware of the differential treatment Black men face within the criminal justice system and may not want to compound this problem by alerting authorities that they are being victimized in their homes. “As a member of a devalued racial identity, some women of color, particularly African American women, may fear that calling the police will subject their partners to racist treatment by the criminal justice system as well as confirm racist stereotypes of Blacks as violent.” (Sokoloff &Dupont, 2005, pg. 43; Richie, 2000; Websdale, 1999)
Class acts as another barrier to help seeking. Low-income victims of interpersonal violence have limited resources, which creates a situation to become further isolated and prone to further victimization. Providing more resources and awareness to this population is imperative to helping them escape an abusive relationship.
For these reasons, there is a need for culturally competent programs to assist these women in getting out of an abusive relationship. A collaboration between public agencies that understand the unique needs of each ethnic group and have a clear understanding of how intersecting oppressions act as barriers to help-seeking for victims of interpersonal violence is an efficient way to help these victims. Knowledge of these problems and putting forth the effort to make changes within our institutions will be a step in the right direction to ending interpersonal violence.
References:
Salcido, O., & Adelman, M. (2004). He has me tied with the blessed and damned papers: Undocumented immigrant battered women in Phoenix, Arizona. Human Organization, 63, 162-172.
Sokoloff, N, & Dupont, I. (2005), Understanding Violence Against Marginalized Women in Diverse Communities Domestic Violence at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender: Challenges and Contributions to Violence Against Women pp. 38-64
Comments
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Culturally Competent
This article brings up a lot of issues that I find hard to answer. I do not know if there would be enough funding to realistically create such divided attention to all of the victims and their differing needs. Perhaps a more comprehensive system overall would provide more help to the women in need. I think that more needs to be done about those involved in the system, particularly in the criminal justice system. Police officers are usually the first people to intervene in a domestic violence situation and the abuse should certainly not continue with them. Women need access to resources, to know their rights and to know that there are people they can trust. The article says that the collaborating agencies need to have an understanding of the unique needs of these women and also understand intersecting oppression and how that creates these barriers for the victims. Being more culturally competent and more informed about the systematic shortcomings that the victims have most likely faced their whole lives will increase their chances of actually helping the women.
funding and logistics
You raise a valid point about funding of initiatives to create divided attention to all of the victims and the differing needs of each victim profile. This is not completely the same, but in raising awareness about autism and the many aberrant and antisocial behaviors (even violent when their sensory systems are overloaded), many organizations dedicated to Autism awareness seek to educate front line workers (police officers, hospital workers, etc) on the signs of autism and how to treat such individuals to de-escalate a situation ... rather than shoot them or or less drastically, some other "normal" strategy that would never ever work with an autistic individual. They even have little info cards ready to hand out.
Unfortunately, the burden may be on advocacy groups for the differing victim groups to educate police officers and others who may come in contact with abuse victims so they will know what cultural, social and environmental factors may be hindering their propensity to report. I don't see that police officers will go out seeking this information, along with all they already have to do.
A lot of unknowns
I think this article raises a lot of questions about the different cultural realities that have to be addressed when trying to help women who are faced with domestic violence. It is easy for those not faced with the situation to say that we would call the police with no questions asked, but when women are raised in with a different belief system, it is easy for me to see how they might be hesitant to involve the police - even if it is for something like to protect their abuser "from the racist treatment of the system". In addition, in these situations, it is rarely cut and dry for the abuser/victim. (It is for the outsider looking in). The abuser is insidious in their psychological manipulation of the victim.
In order to help victims, we have to find ways to meet them where they are.
Domestic Violence
I believe that the idea behind taking different races and their circumstances into consideration is great, however, where is the funding coming from to help out these battered women. Being able to reach out and help these people in need is great, and i believe that more things like this need to be out there. As for fear of the cops, if someone is being abused i do not believe that they should hold back from going to authorities in fear of the person who is beating them getting a longer sentence. I understand being afraid of what another person may do if someone goes to authorities, but people being abused has to stop and help spreading the word, and making people feel safe to speak up is a huge thing in helping fight this cause.
Domestic Violence
I think that you are right that an abused person needs to be able to feel safe in speaking out about their situation, but the problem is when they have no one that they feel safe speaking to and no place to go. I once knew a woman who was the victim of domestic violence. She was poor and uneducated and feared leaving her abuser because she did not have anywhere to go and felt that he could find her anywhere and if she did leave he would find her and "teach her not to leave again". She did eventually leave, but it was only after she ended up in the hospital and knew that if she went back, he would kill her the next time. She found a system of support, but lived in fear for quite a long time. Unfortunately, not everyone sees the police as the "good guys" who are there to help them. Our society needs to set up support systems to help these people and give them a way to escape from their situations.
discrimination promoting abuse
It is still very unfortunate to read about our supposed "post-racial" society continuing the systemic discrimination against minorities. There are very real reasons that women of color are still being forced to endure abuse by their spouses. On the one had, they are not willing to further enforce the stereotype of the violent black man, on the other, they do not want to appear weak, battered, and abused to the public. As far as the trouble facing immigrants, this is truly troubling. Not only are battered women afraid to seek help due to the reprisal from their spouses, a difficult enough hurdle for any person in an abusive relationship, but they face deportation upon discovery of illegal immigrant status. There has got to be some way that there are not repercussions for reporting domestic abuse to the authorities in terms of being removed from the country, especially if children are involved. We see the same problems of deportation of people who have American-born children. Often times they are deported for non-violent charges like traffic violations. I have heard that congress is working on this. Can't there be something similar in the case of parents being abused?
I'm not sure if there are
I'm not sure if there are resources for parents themselves are being abused, to bring a lighter topic of discussion-I think that's just life. However, I agree with you when you say that there should be some sort of way to accurately and confidently report abusive situations like those ones mentioned in the above article that don't have any repercussions on those who report the incident(s) if they are illegally here in the states. If something bad is happening within the home, no matter what race, social status,etc you are, there should be some sort of help for those people that they don't have to suffer more abuse to themselves and their kids.
But another topic in this article that I found interesting and that I've never thought of before was that black women are afraid to report their (black) husband's/boyfriend's abuse to the authorities because they don't want to aid in the stereotype that blacks are the predominate ones in American prisons. I would think that no matter the stereotype, anyone would report abuse to themselves, let alone their babies. But, I am aware that there are many many many women out there that keep quite of their unfortunate abusive situations. I just wish they would become empowered to speak to SOMEONE, ANYONE, about it, and then it could help stop it all together.
Domestic Violence
I found this article interesting. My aunt was a domestic violence victim for many years. She grew up poor and never finished high school. She married the first man that gave her attention. She had two children right away and I think she felt trapped in a nightmare. The sad fact is that the only reason that she did eventually find the courage to leave him was that he started abusing their children. I had never thought about the reason for African-American women staying silent about abuse being that they do not want to validate stereotypes about Black men. I think that many Hispanic women may stay silent for the same reason. I also had never thought about cultural values influencing silence about abuse. This article was eye-opening. I hope that our society can find a way to give these women a safe place to open up about their situations. I am not sure what it would take to do this, but acknowledging that this problem exists is a step in the right direction.
Until one is in the situation
Until one is in the situation of domestic violence I dont think they truly understand the toll that it takes on one emotionally. No matter what race, class or ethnic background one may have they still have the same working parts of a heart and soul. Being in a situation such as domestic violence isn't something like being discrimated against at the market. It takes away your confidence to have the courage to go and take a stand and stand up for yourself. It also boggles one's mind to understand how someone you love so much could cause that physical and emotional pain to you. Being scared that authorities wouldn't believe you and that he would come back and do it worse a second time after finding out that you tried to convict him is a greater struggle than anything else. I never considered the part of immigrants being faced with that challenge of not telling because they are scared to be deported. It makes sense that more domestic abuse takes place to illegal immigrants as they are most likely low class and facing alot of stress and struggle. The important thing for all domestic abuse victims is to remember that there are agencies that will get you help. Black, white, purple or green there are places that will keep you safe and help you find solutions and ways to pick yourself up as a women and carry on.
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