Documenting Domestic Violence among Ethnically Diverse Populations: Results from a Preliminary Study

Exploring Battered Mexican-Origin Women's Help-Seeking Within Their Sociocultural Contexts

“…Yet while some studies report no ethnic/racial differences when comparing battered Latinas to battered European-American women (Torres, 1987) or battered European-American and African American women (Browne & Bassuk, 1997;O'Keefe, 1994), other studies have found that Latino couples were at higher risk for intimate partner violence than other racial/ethnic groups (Kaufman Kantor et al, 1994;Neff et al, 1995;Straus & Smith, 1990), including abuse during the woman's pregnancy (Krishnan, Hilbert, VanLeeuwen, & Kolia, 1997). However, many researchers have found that the higher risk of wife assault among Latino families dissipates after accounting for the effects of structural variables, i.e.…”

“…Research has also shown that battered Latinas, especially those who are immigrants, are unlikely to utilize formal (Bauer et al, 2000;Dutton et al, 2000;Hogeland & Rosen, 1990;Krishnan et al, 1997;West et al, 1998) and informal help West, 1998) sources in order to survive abuse. For example, found that Latinas were least likely to contact a friend, minister, or social service agency.…”

“…For example, found that Latinas were least likely to contact a friend, minister, or social service agency. Krishnan et al (1997) found that significantly more White women than Latinas reported violence to law enforcement or sought medical attention for the abuse. Dutton et al (2000) analyzed immigrant Latinas' help-seeking behaviors, and found that while they were more likely to seek informal support (i.e., speak to a female friend) than formal services, only half of the women in the sample did so.…”

“…Limited education and illiteracy, in addition to factors such as language barriers and isolation, may limit battered Latinas' access to information about rights and services (Bauer et al, 2000;Gondolf et al, 1984;Krishnan et al, 1997;Murdaugh et al, 2004; National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence, 2003). For example, Dutton et al (2000) found that 23.3% of the Latina immigrant women they interviewed cited not knowing about services as the biggest barrier to seeking help to end or escape the violence in their relationship.…”

“…Research suggests that lack of English proficiency may affect battered women's awareness of services as well as their communication with service providers; this may dissuade some battered Latinas from seeking formal help (Avecedo, 2000;Bauer, et al, 2000;Dutton et al, 2000;Hogeland, & Rosen, 1990;Krishnan et al, 1997;Murdaugh et al, 2004; National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence, 2003;Sorenson, 1996;Torres, 1987).…”