In March 2003, Asian immigrants accounted for 25% of all immigrants in the United States. Along with other immigrant groups, the Asian immigrant community has become increasingly aware of domestic abuse. Some Asian women have been sent to this country as the result of arranged marriages to live with men they barely know. In some cases, the husband takes his immigrant bride's money, jewelry, and passport, leaving her completely dependent on him. The abusive husband often tells his immigrant wife that if she leaves him, she will be deported. For some abused immigrant women, it would be worse to return home and bring shame on their family than to stay with the abusive partner. In some cultures, divorced women are outcasts with no place in society.
U.S. immigration laws have unintentionally contributed to the problem of abuse among immigrant
TABLE 2.11
| Predictors of domestic violence |
| SOURCE: "Predictors of Domestic Violence," The Problem, National Coalition against Domestic Violence, http://www.ncadv.org/problem/predictors.htm (accessed September 19, 2004) |
| The following signs often occur before actual abuse and may serve as clues to potential abuse: |
| 1. Did he grow up in a violent family? People who grow up in families where they have been abused as children, or where one parent beats the other, have grown up learning that violence is normal behavior. |
| 2. Does he tend to use force or violence to "solve" his problems? A young man who has a criminal record for violence, who gets into fights, or who likes to act tough is likely to act the same way with his wife and children. Does he have a quick temper? Does he over-react to little problems and frustration? Is he cruel to animals? Does he punch walls or throw things when he's upset? Any of these behaviors may be a sign of a person who will work out bad feelings with violence. |
| 3. Does he abuse alcohol or other drugs? There is a strong link between violence and problems with drugs and alcohol. Be alert to his possible drinking/drug problems, particulary if he refuses to admit that he has a problem, or refuses to get help. Do not think that you can change him. |
| 4. Does he have strong traditional ideas about what a man should be and what a woman should be? Does he think a woman should stay at home, take care of her husband, and follow his wishes and orders? |
| 5. Is he jealous of your other relationships—not just with other men that you may know—but also with your women friends and your family? Does he keep tabs on you? Does he want to know where you are at all times? Does he want you with him all of the time? |
| 6. Does he have access to guns, knives, or other lethal instruments? Does he talk of using them against people, or threaten to use them to get even? |
| 7. Does he expect you to follow his orders or advice? Does he become angry if you do not fulfill his wishes or if you cannot anticipate what he wants? |
| 8. Does he go through extreme highs and lows, almost as though he is two different people? Is he extremely kind one time, and extremely cruel at another time? |
| 9. When he gets angry, do you fear him? Do you find that not making him angry has become a major part of your life? Do you do what he wants you to do, rather than what you want to do? |
| 10. Does he treat you roughly? Does he physically force you to do what you do not want to do? |
women. The Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments were passed in 1986 in an attempt to prevent immigrants from illegally obtaining resident status through a sham marriage to a U.S. citizen. The amendments require that spouses, usually husbands, petition for conditional resident status for an undocumented mate. Conditional status lasts a minimum of two years during which time the couple must remain married. If the marriage dissolves, the immigrant loses conditional status and may be deported. As a result, some wives become prisoners of abusive husbands for as long as the husbands control their conditional resident status.
The law was amended under the Immigration Act of 1990 to permit a waiver of conditional status if the immigrant could prove battery or extreme cruelty. While the new law attempts to provide relief for battered brides, the initial filing for conditional status is still in the hands of the husband; if the abuse begins before he chooses to file the petition, the woman has no legal recourse.
In addition, a proposed implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, an aid package meant to defray the costs of providing health care to immigrants, will harm battered immigrant women, according to a Family Violence Prevention Fund "Newsflash" online article, "Hospital Regulation Would Threaten Battered Immigrant Women, Experts Warn" (http://endabuse.org, September 1, 2004). Under the proposal, hospitals wanting aid will be required ask uninsured patients intimidating questions about their immigration status. These regulations may keep battered women from seeking medical care.
The Diversity of Different Cultures
Many immigrants come from cultures that are radically different from the predominant American society. Among the Asian-American community, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians, Koreans, Thai, and Cambodians, there is widespread acceptance of male dominance and a belief that the community and the family take priority over the individual. Asian women are generally raised to accept their husbands' dominance and are more reluctant to complain or to leave than their American counterparts. Complicating the problem of domestic abuse in this community are strong family ties, economic dependency, the stigma of divorce, and fear of bringing shame to the family.
Still, researchers have found that rates of domestic abuse in immigrant communities are no higher than among the native population. Cecilia Menjivar and Olivia Salcido wrote, "the experiences of immigrant women in domestic violence situations are often exacerbated by their specific position as immigrants, including limited host-language skills, lack of access to dignified jobs, uncertain legal statuses, and experiences in their home countries, and thus their alternatives to living with their abusers are very limited" ("Immigrant Women and Domestic Violence: Common Experiences in Different Countries," Gender & Society, vol. 16, December 2002).
There is documented evidence of abuse in practically every immigrant community in the United States. For example, research conducted during the 1990s by the Immigrant Woman's Task Force of the Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights found that 34% of Latinas and 25% of Filipinas surveyed had experienced domestic violence. Findings were reported by Deena L. Jang et al. in Domestic Violence in Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Asserting the Rights of Battered Women (San Francisco: Family Violence Prevention Fund, 1997).
The report by Jang et al. also noted that language barriers compound immigrant women's problem, often making it difficult for women to seek and obtain help. Women who do not speak English generally do not know how to find help, have difficulties in availing themselves of the help that does exist, and do not know their rights in the United States. Social workers report that interpreters, often male, do not always translate correctly, preferring to maintain community values rather than support the battered wife. In addition, many Asian women do not know the law and are misinformed by their husbands that they will be deported or lose their children if they report the abuse.
Figure 2.6 shows some of the distinctive ways that battered immigrant women are abused. Threatening to report a woman to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, have her deported, or to withdraw her petition to legalize her immigration status are among the actions an abusive husband may take to control his immigrant wife.
In September 1994 President Bill Clinton signed the Violence against Women Act as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The Violence against Women Act permitted undocumented battered women to obtain lawful permanent resident status by petitioning for that status or through the suspension of deportation. In order to take advantage of this law, however, immigrant women must hire a lawyer and enter a system many of them misunderstand and mistrust.
New policies and programs for recent immigrant victims have emerged across the country, especially in cities with large immigrant populations. To improve the communication between immigrants and the criminal justice system, authorities have made special efforts to reach immigrant victims by hiring multicultural criminal justice staffs and providing informational materials in a variety of languages. Police representatives also attend meetings of immigrant groups, and members of the immigrant community are encouraged to serve as representatives on citizen police committees.
The most effective programs to assist immigrant women acknowledge the multiple pressures these women face during their efforts to become oriented and to assimilate themselves into American culture and society. Along with cultural shock and language barriers, many immigrant women confront racism, class prejudice, and sexism. Fear of authority and the absence of social networks and support services compound the problem. Finally, recognizing that many women are brought to the United States in circumstances that increase the likelihood of victimization—as mail-order brides, child-care workers, or prostitutes—is an important step in stemming the crisis and addressing the crime of domestic violence.
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