Domestic or intimate partner violence affects most women in society. In fact, the trend is indiscriminative; it transcends ethnic or economic background. By definition, it involves the use of physical or psychological abuse to exert power and control over another individual in an intimate relationship. In the state of Louisiana, Hispanics and Latinas experience domestic violence while facing internal and external barriers to accessing or benefiting from advocacy services. Therefore, social workers such as counselors, social workers and residential advisors need to identify these barriers and so as to be able to meet the needs of such women (Spencer, Renner & Clark, 2016).
One of the main barriers that Hispanics and Latinas face is language. The fact that Latinas are not proficient in English means that they do not know the services and resources that are available to them in the state. One major problem with Louisiana is that there are no community outreach programs or education for Spanish-speaking victims. Besides, most of the materials on domestic violence have not been translated into Spanish thus some members of the ethnic groups do not specifically know what these services entail and how they can access them. Notably, some of these women have experienced language discrimination their whole lives and find it difficult to pass across their message in English.
Hispanics and Latinas also fear seeking help due to the constant threats and intimidation heaped upon them by the abusers. Notably, the women are constantly threatened with deportation and, if there are children involved, the abusers occasionally threaten that they will be taken by the government or given to them. Such threats are often intimidating to the victims thus compelling them to be submissive to the abusers’ demands. In addition, some of these women do not have knowledge about their rights or immigration laws which makes them extremely vulnerable to abuse. Another reason why such women do not report domestic abuse is due to the biases and discrimination they have previously experienced while dealing with authorities such as the police. In reality, most of them do not trust the authorities and would rather persevere abusive situations than report the perpetrators (Klevens, 2007).
Hispanics and Latinas also face another barrier based on their culture that highly reveres the sense of family and community. There are certain cultural values that are instilled in Hispanic women that they identify with. These include including respecting their husbands and loving their families. Most of the women hold high family values and believe they have a responsibility to their children to stay in the relationship. Normally, they do this because they want their children to experience the love of both parents. In other circumstances, there are those who fear that they will be considered as failures if they do not hold their families together. Furthermore, Latina women find it difficult to share their problems with domestic violence workers since they believe that matters of the bedroom should not be shared publicly.
In the state of Louisiana, there are very few bilingual direct service staff and volunteers. It is essential that domestic violence workers be fluent both in English and Spanish so as to provide adequate services to Hispanics and Latinas. A major problem faced in Louisiana is the shortage of bilingual hotline staff. When a victim calls an emergency service line and starts speaking in Spanish, more often than not, the response they will receive is “I am sorry, but I do not speak Spanish”. Therefore, it is essential that these community centers hire bilingual staff to help with the translation and interpretation of Latino calls. There are also limited community outreach coordinators for Latina communities. Besides, public agencies such as the police, child protective services, and victim assistance agencies do not offer adequate translation services for Hispanics and Latinas (Katerndahl, Burge, Ferrer, Becho & Wood, 2016).
- Katerndahl, D. A., Burge, S. K., Ferrer, R. L., Becho, J., and Wood, R. (2016). Predictors of Perceived Need for and Actual Action Taking Among Women in Violent Relationships. J Interpers Violence. Retrieved from: http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/09/21/0886260516669543.abstract
- Klevens, J. (2007). An Overview of Intimate Partner Violence Among Latinos. Violence Against Women, February 2007 13:2. Pgs 111-122. Retrieved from: http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/13/2/111.abstract
- Spencer, R. A., Renner, L. M. & Clark, C. J. (2016). Patterns of Dating Violence Perpetration and Victimization in U.S. Young Adult Males and Females. J Interpers Violence, 31:15. Pgs. 2576-2597. Retrieved from: http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/31/15/2576.abstract
