What is Domestic Violence

1
What is Domestic Violence?

• An escalating pattern of abuse that includes any
  or all of the following
• Threats
• Sexual
• Psychological
• Emotional / verbal

2
Types of Abuse

• Isolation
• Intimidation
• Economic
• Stalking
• Spiritual
• Children

3
Cycle of Violence

4
Battering / abuse / threats

• Gain power
• Exert control
• Prevent loss of esteem
• Exhibit manliness

5
Who is effected by domestic violence?

• 3-10 million children witness domestic violence
  every year
• Every 9 seconds a woman in United States is
  beaten by one who claims to love her
• The direct cost for medical treatment for
  battered women is 1.8 billion annually
• 50 homeless women and children are fleeing
  domestic violence
• 1 in 4 teenage girls is a victim of teen
  violence.

6
Dating Violence

• Women ages 16-24 experience the highest rates of
  intimate violence
• 53 of DV victims are abused by a current or
  former boyfriend or girlfriend
• 13 of teenage girls who are in a relationship
  report being physically hurt or hit
• 54 of all rape cases occur before victims reach
  18 years of age
• 71 of rape and sexual assault victims knew their
  offenders

7
Campus Violence

• 21 of college students report they have
  experienced dating violence by a current partner
• 32 report dating violence by a previous partner
• 60 of acquaintance rapes on college campuses
  occur in casual or steady dating relationships
• 13 of college women report experiencing forced
  sexual intercourse by a dating partner
• Over 23 of college women report they have been
  stalked. Of these, 42 were stalked by a
  boyfriend or ex-boyfriend

8
Effect Of Dating Violence on Health

• Women involved in violent relationships typically
  suffered from post-dramatic stress and
  dissociation
• Rates of sexual transmitted infections and
  pregnancy are higher for girls and young women,
  who have a history of abuse

9
DV Latinas

• A strong sense of culture keep Latinas from
  betraying long-standing values. Those who step
  outside of these norms, shame not only themselves
  but also their parents, grandparents, etc. Latino
  family obligations always come first no matter
  what personal animosities may exist.
• A Latina who cant keep her family together is
  considered a failure. She may stay with an
  abusive husband or not disclose her situation to
  relatives in order to keep up appearances.
• Women who are deeply religious may believe a
  violent spouse is their cross to bear.
  Additional pressure to stay derives from the
  Catholic Churchs ban on divorce. Family members
  may be particularly unsympathetic when a Latina
  tries to leave her abusive marriage.
• Latinas without economic resources must often
  rely on public service providers. Yet police and
  others who attend them seldom offer culturally
  sensitive response or Spanish language assistant.
  
• Community outreach in Spanish around domestic
  violence issues is almost non-existent. Few
  materials are created specifically for Latinas or
  even translated into Spanish.
• A batterer who is a U.S citizen may manipulate
  and control his immigrant wife by threatening to
  have her deported if she complains about his
  violence. He may coerce her to stay with the
  empty promise of filing her residency papers.
• In Mexico a law called abandono de hogar
  punishes women who leave their homes, even to
  flea violence. Women convicted of abandoning the
  home often lost custody of their children. Some
  Mexican women who immigrate to the U.S.
  erroneously believe that this law applies here.

Source Latinas and Domestic Violence
www.mujereslatinasenaccion.org
10
DV Latinas

• Survey in Washington DC, 27 Latina feared
  deportation
• Berries Language, perception of law
  enforcement/legal system
• VAWA married to LPR or USC
• U-Visa victim of a crime

11
State Laws on Dating Violence

• Many state require a victim to be married to,
  live with, or have a child in common with the
  perpetrator in order for criminal and civil
  domestic violence laws to protect the victim
• 39 states and DC allow victims of dating violence
  to apply for orders of protection against the
  perpetrator
• California allows minors 12 years and older to
  petition without an adult
• Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New York,
  Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah,
  and Virginia DO NOT recognize dating violence in
  their statutes

Source National Coalition Against Domestic
Violence www.ncadv.org/files/datingviolence.pdf
12
Abusers try to control their victim's lives.

• When perpetrators feel a loss of control abuse
  worsens

13
Resources

• National Domestic Violence Hotline
  1 800-799-SAFE (7283)
• National Teen Dating Violence Helpline
  1 866-331-9474
• National Immigration Law Center www.nilc.org
  213-938-6452
• National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
  www.nnirr.org

14
Domestic Violence

• "Domestic violence is not only a personal
  tragedy, it is a serious crime that negatively
  affects women, men, children, neighborhoods, and
  communities. We must join together to address the
  causes of this crime so that each and every home
  can be a place of peace and safety.
• Mary Beth Buchanan,
• Acting Director Office on Violence
  Against Women United States Department of
  Justice

15

• Always hold firmly to the thought that EACH one
  of us can do something to bring some portion of
  misery to an end
• 
  -Anonymous