(Un)heard Voices: Domestic Violence in the Asian American Community (pdf)
This publication is based on the results of a focus group with Asian immigrant women and Asian American women from different backgrounds. Various questions and issues are addressed such as identifying victims and perpetrators, prevalence of domestic violence in Asian communities, barriers confronting Asian women and more. The report also gives recommendations to service providers and a national list of organizations committed to serving battered Asian women.
15 Years of the United Nations Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences (pdf)
This report reviews the status of violence against women as researched in 14 annual reports, 32 country mission reports, and 11 communication reports published as recently as December 2008. The report focuses on reproductive health and rights, poverty, migration, internally displaced persons (IDPs), women refugees, trafficking, aging, and adolescent girls. It also highlights how the mandate on violence against women has changed, what has been learned, and problems still to be addressed.
A Comparison of Domestic Violence Advocacy Models (pdf)
This document contains a chart comparing domestic violence advocacy models and serves as a reference for effective advocacy for Latinas.
Access to HHS-Funded Services for Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence
January 2001 Fact Sheet. This Fact Sheet is intended to provide guidance to health and social service agencies and community-based organizations about eligibility for all the various programs and services funded by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
This Applied Research paper provides an overview of the methodological issues in research used to generate knowledge of the nature and dynamics of domestic violence in immigrant communities, the research findings that help us understand the broad contexts within which immigrant women experience domestic violence, and provides some considerations for culturally competent services.
Battered Immigrants and U.S. Citizen Spouses (pdf)
Designed to help adjudicators who decide cases involving battered immigrant women to better understand and consider the evidence presented, this paper reviews and provided data about the dynamics of domestic violence experienced by immigrant women. The authors demonstrate how power and control over the immigration status of an immigrant partner enhances the likelihood and severity of abuse. Examples of immigration-related tactics of abuse are provided.
"The purpose of this study was to learn how CPS can be more responsive to families experiencing domestic violence and child abuse and neglect; learn how domestic violence advocates can be more effective in helping clients to respond to allegations of or actual child abuse and neglect and CPS interventions; explore how community can be more responsive to partner abuse and child abuse and neglect and provide support to families involved with CPS; and experiment with a research design that accomplishes the first step of participatory research and at the same time empowers advocates and survivors."
Batterer Intervention Program Enrollment and Completion Among Immigrant Men in Massachusetts (pdf)
"This study describes immigrant clients enrolled in Massachusetts batterer intervention (BI) programs from 2002 to 2004. The study seeks to describe the immigrant men enrolled in Massachusetts BI programs, investigate whether immigrants were more or less likely to complete BI programs than were nonimmigrants, and investigate whether immigrants in non-English, culturally specific groups were more or less likely to complete BI programs than were immigrants in mainstream groups."
Breaking Barriers: A Complete Guide to Legal Rights and Resources for Battered Immigrants
This manual seeks to explain the complex topics of domestic violence and immigration laws that are intended to assist immigrant survivors. The goal of this manual is to provide support and assistance to advocates and attorneys, arming them with the knowledge they need to confidently provide effective assistance to battered immigrant victims and the immigrant community.
Breaking the Links Between Poverty and Violence against Women: A Resource Guide (pdf)
"This resource guide explores the ways in which poverty and violence are linked. It acknowledges the efforts of women’s groups, community organizations and service agencies that support low-income women to take control of and deal with the poverty and violence in their lives. Another area of focus is to inspire community-based groups to take action on poverty and violence issues by providing practical examples of what others are doing."
Breaking the Silence: A Training Manual for Activists, Advocates, and Latina Organizers (pdf)
"A guide for domestic violence service providers, activists, counselors and others focused on advancing the rights of battered immigrant women. Based on the FVPF's successful pilot project, the manual provides essential details on how to start organizing and maintaining a group of activists and counselors. This guide is also available in Spanish."
Breaking the Silence: A Training Manual for Activists, Advocates, and Latina Organizers (Spanish) (pdf)
"The first ever guide for domestic violence service providers, activists, counselors and others focused on advancing the rights of battered immigrant women. Based on the FVPF's successful pilot project, the manual provides essential details on how to start organizing and maintaining a group of activists and counselors. This guide is also available in English."
This manual provides suggestions and guidance on how to organize projects at improving services and eliminating barriers for ensuring safety for battered rural immigrant women.
Chinese Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence (pdf)
"Chinese translation of the Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence. The spiral implicitly locates a range of abuses in the lives of girls and women, revealing patterns of victimization and perpetration. The Lifetime Spiral is designed to be used by everyone to identify histories of violence in their own lives or in the lives of family and friends."
Community Engagement Curriculum Guide (pdf)
This training curriculum is based on a report from the API Institute on Domestic Violence titled "The Community Engagement Continuum: Outreach, Mobilization, Organizing and Accountability to Address Violence Against Women in Asian & Pacific Islander Communities".
Culture Handbook for working with those who have experienced sexual or domestic violence (pdf)
"This handbook is designed to be used by advocates and professionals who work with those who are victims of domestic and sexual violence. It provides some basic information on how to understand culture and begin the process of challenging oneself to become more aware of the ways in which culture impacts our work and the lives of those who are victims."
This handbook is intended for organizations of any size that are interested in developing a bilingual or multilingual legal referral hotline to assist recent immigrant communities with their legal needs. The handbook presents ten fundamental steps to guide any organization. The previous .pdf file containing the handbook is no longer available. The link is to an order form for those who are interested.
Domestic Violence in Communities of Color (pdf)
"This "Facts & Stats Collection" paper highlights specific issues and distinguishing dynamics that confront different women of color, including African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American/Alaskan Indian women."
Domestic Violence Information in Asian Languages (pdf)
A list of websites and weblinks containing domestic violence related resources in various Asian and Pacific Islander languages.
Fact Sheet: Domestic Violence in Filipino Communities (pdf)
A brief fact sheet on the demographics and statistics of domestic violence in Filipino communities that includes a selected list of translated materials and resources in the Tagalog and Ilocano languages.
Facts & Stats: Domestic Violence in Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Homes (pdf)
"Facts & Stats raises awareness about the experiences of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander battered women; counters denial about the problem; emphasizes the need for socio-culturally effective prevention and intervention; and serves to guide future research and inform public policy."
Farsi Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence (pdf)
Farsi translation of the Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence. It locates a range of abuses and abusers in the lives of girls and women, revealing patterns of victimization and perpetration.
Forced Marriage in Immigrant Communities in the United States: 2011 National Survey Results (pdf)
This resource was developed from information gained through a national survey on the state of forced marriage in the United States. The survey was the first of its kind conducted in the United States and was designed to understand the scope and nature of forced marriage among immigrant communities.
Handbook for legislation on violence against women (pdf)
Based on the work of an expert group meeting in Vienna, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs developed a Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women. This Handbook intends to provide all stakeholders with detailed guidance to support the adoption and effective implementation of legislation which prevents violence against women, punishes perpetrators, and ensures the rights of survivors everywhere.
Helping Culturally Diverse Victims of Interpersonal Violence: Avoiding Stereotypes & Meetings Needs
"This forum discusses the need to take people's culture into account when providing them with services for interpersonal violence and avoiding the trap of treating people in a cookie-cutter way, based on stereotypes about their culture. This forum is hosted by Lisa Aronson Fontes, PhD. Lisa is a Core Faculty Member in Union Institute & University's Psy.D. Program in Clinical Psychology and has dedicated almost 20 years to making the social service and mental health systems more responsive to culturally diverse people."
This document describes the abuse of migrant domestic workers in the United States as well as laws, guidelines, procedures, and regulations concerning special visas and their enforcement.
How to obtain U Interim Relief: A Brief Manual for Advocates Assisting Immigrant Victims of Crime (pdf)
This manual provides U Visa information for advocates who assist victims of crime, including domestic violence. The author outlines the definition, requirements, and application process for U Visa Interim relief and also offers information on obtaining permanent residency and derivative status for family members.
Immigrant and Refugee Power and Control Wheel
Throughout the world, women are victims of domestic violence just as there are battered women in the United States. Immigrant and refugee women know that in their countries of origin, women have been tortured with sexual abuse by the army/rebels, kidnapped into prostitution, forced into marriages, killed in honor killings, used for sexual slavery, stoned to death and often experience other gender related abuses. This Immigrant and Refugee Power and Control Wheel is an adaptation of the Duluth Power and Conrol wheel created by attendees Immigrant & Refugee Women Support Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Immigrant Populations as Victims: Toward a Multicultural Criminal Justice System (pdf)
"This report summarizes findings from a study about the criminal justice system's approach to immigrant victims of crime and barriers that prohibit immigrants from reporting crimes."
Immigrant South Asian Women at Greater Risk for Injury From Intimate Partner Violence (pdf)
"Factors related to immigration may place South Asian immigrant women at increased risk for intimate partner violence. The purpose of the current study was to assess the relations between immigration-related factors and intimate partner violence among a sample of South Asian women residing in the United States."
Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence: Cultural Challenges and Available Legal Protections
This VAWNET document raises awareness of both the challenges faced by battered immigrant women and some of the legal protections now available to them.
Immigrant Women and Domestic Violence
This special collection highlights the common experiences of immigrant women who are in abusive relationships, the legal protections and public benefits available, and practices and suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of services provided to immigrant women.
Immigration Relief for Crime Victims: The U Visa Manual (pdf)
"This manual aims to provide guidance to lawyers on issues that arise in the context of representing U visa applicants. It is designed for practitioners who are familiar with basic immigration terms and legal concepts."
As part of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has released this fact sheet to provide immigrating foreign brides (and other marriage-based visa applicants) with potentially life-saving information about rights and resources available to them in the United States if they are abused.
Intersecting Inequalities: Immigrant Women of Colour, Violence and Health Care (pdf)
This report focuses on racialized immigrant women who have experienced intimate violence and their access to the health care system. The paper reviews current literature and identifies key variables that contribute to immigrant women's vulnerability to violence and lack of access to health care. The response of health care service providers is also examined.
"This document describes intimate partner violence (IPV) in immigrant and refugee communities in the United States. The report contains four main sections: background information on the incidence of the problem among immigrant and refugee communities, an overview of the needs and challenges of immigrant and refugee IPV victims and service providers, recommendations for funders, service providers and policy-makers, and lastly a discussion of IPV research and evaluation issues to be addressed in immigrant and refugee communities."
Korean Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence (pdf)
"Korean translation of the Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence. The spiral implicitly locates a range of abuses in the lives of girls and women, revealing patterns of victimization and perpetration. The Lifetime Spiral is designed to be used by everyone to identify histories of violence in their own lives or in the lives of family and friends."
Latina Cultural Context and Advocacy (pdf)
This document is designed for advocates working with Latina victims of domestic violence. It is intended to help inform advocates of the cultural contexts through which Latina victims see their world, in order to provide culturally informed services.
Local Police Enforcement of Immigration Laws and its Effects on Victims of Domestic Violence
This paper warns that local police and prosecutors should be prepared for the predictable reduction in reporting of serious crimes if law enforcement officers chose to expand their duties to include the policing of immigration matters. The author argues roles of local police is not enforcing immigration law in securing safety for victims of domestic violence.
Mexico: Amnesty International Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review
An Amnesty International report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council in February 2009. The report highlighted problems in the area of violence against women, in particular, the prevalence of domestic violence in Mexico and the femicides in Ciudad Juarez along the U.S.-Mexican border.
This protocol/policy model intends to support domestic violence agencies in the state of Washington to increase and extend the services to immigrant and refugee women whose primary language is not English. However, this information will be relevant to any agency that is a recipient of federal funding.
"This report includes a discussion of primary prevention of intimate partner violence, promising approaches to environmental/norms change, an examination of IPV primary prevention within immigrant communities, recommended actions to building momentum for primary prevention of IPV, and immediate next steps. The report is designed as a catalyst and call to action, to give a sense of direction and raise some issues for consideration."
Prevalence and Predictors of Physical Partner Abuse Among Mexican American Women (pdf)
"This study determined the lifetime prevalence of physical abuse by a current partner among women of Mexican origin and assessed factors associated with abuse."
This report examines innovative partnership designed to assist the employment needs of immigrant women who are survivors of domestic violence.
Providing Services to Immigrant Women in Atlantic Canada (pdf)
"This article describes some of the findings of research conducted in 2005 and 2006, which found that being an immigrant was a factor not only in immigrant women’s experiences of violence in Atlantic Canada, but also in their access to support services. Immigrant women and the professionals who provide services to them describe some of the barriers they face and conclude that fully funded and coordinated prevention and intervention programs and services to immigrant women are needed in Atlantic Canada."
Punjabi Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence (pdf)
"Punjabi translation of the Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence. The spiral implicitly locates a range of abuses in the lives of girls and women, revealing patterns of victimization and perpetration. The Lifetime Spiral is designed to be used by everyone to identify histories of violence in their own lives or in the lives of family and friends."
Resource Guide for Advocates & Attorneys on Interpretation Services for Domestic Violence Victims (pdf)
This document provides guidelines from the Interpretation Technical Assistance and Resource Center that focus on court interpretation for domestic and sexual violence victims with limited English proficiency. These guidelines inform how advocacy, interpretation, and language access can be integrated.
Resources for Working with Immigrant Women
As part of Futures Without Violence, this site provides a list with a number of tools, books and brochures to help immigrant survivors of family violence.
Scope of the Problem: Domestic Violence in Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Homes (pdf)
This document provides information on the prevalence rates of domestic violence in the API communities, unique dynamics in families, socio-cultural barriers in getting help, and highlights the need for ethnic diversity and culturally competent programs.
Sexual Violence against Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Women (pdf)
This document provides guidelines for advocates on various points of intersection of domestic and sexual violence in the API communities.
Shattered Lives: Homicides, Domestic Violence and Asian Families (pdf)
This report focuses on domestic violence related homicides as a critical issue affecting Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander battered women since 2001. Types of domestic violence related homicides, children as victims, and perpetrator types are discussed. Findings and recommendations are also provided.
Silent Epidemic: A Survey of Violence Among Young Asian American Women
This report examines the impact of sexual violence, intimate partner violence and stalking on young Asian American women. The study also examines levels of awareness, prevalence, and access to services. It also addresses cultural and institutional barriers that Asian American victims of sexual violence, intimate partner violence and stalking may face.
The Crossing Borders Self-Assessment Guide (pdf)
"A tool kit for doing the "inside work" within programs to strengthen and expand services for immigrant survivors of domestic violence."
With this report, Minnesota Advocates highlights many of the innovative programs and legislative initiatives that advance the safety of battered refugee and immigrant women and the serious obstacles they face when accessing protection from domestic violence and in pursuing accountability for their abusers. Minnesota Advocates findings are derived from over 150 interviews, primarily in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, with judges, lawyers, prosecutors, public defenders, advocates, probation officers, immigration officials, medical service providers, interpreters, child protection employees and others regarding their interaction with refugee and immigrant women who have been battered. This report includes an analysis of governments compliance with their obligation to protect the human rights, safety and security of refugee and immigrant women who are victims of violence.
The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People's Republic of China.
This report presents a comprehensive overview of this human rights disaster, grounded in first-hand accounts of North Koreans who escaped to the South, and humanitarian workers who aided them and many less fortunate. It examines the complex and harrowing decision of migrants to leave, an illegal act often deemed tantamount to treason; the months and even years of hiding in China; the desperate circumstances that lead women to sell themselves as sexual companions; and the vulnerability these migrants have that open them to every and any abuse.
The Multiple Faces of the Intersections between HIV and Violence Against Women (pdf)
"The report compiles various articles that describe the intersection of and links between violence against women and the increasing number of HIV/AIDS transmissions among women. The publishers hope to prompt discussion and efforts focused on creating integrated policies and programs that address violence against women and HIV."
The Use of Expert Testimony on Intimate Partner Violence (pdf)
"This Applied Research paper presents an overview of the uses of expert testimony, the qualifications and roles of experts, the literature on the use of testimony on the effects of battering, and considerations for future research."
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants (pdf)
Manual on the preparation, filing and processing of applications pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Also includes detailed information on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for Children Under Juvenile Court Jurisdiction, and U and T Non-Immigrant Visas (Victims of Crime and Trafficking). A good resource for advocates and legal professionals working with these victims.
This document takes some time to download, especially with a slow connection.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 1-100 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 101-200 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 201-300 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 301-380 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
UN study on Violence Against Children
"A press release on a new effort to provide a detailed global picture of the nature, extent and causes of violence against children, and propose clear recommendations for action to prevent and reduce such violence. The study focuses on violence against children in five settings: the home and family, schools and educational settings, other institutional settings (orphanages, children in conflict with the law), the community and on the streets, and work situations. "
Vietnamese Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence (pdf)
Vietnamese translation of the Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence.
"Intimate partner violence against immigrant women is at epidemic proportions, but research has only recently begun to address the concern. A review of the legal, medical, and social science research literature reveals little data, but that which exist demonstrate that immigrant women's cultures, contexts, and legal status (a) increase vulnerability for abuse, (b) are used by batterers to control and abuse immigrant women, and (c) create barriers to women seeking and receiving help. Data also reveal that immigrant culture and context offer resiliency factors through which programs and policy can be used to better serve these populations."
Violence Against Women: Classic Papers
The purpose of this project was to assemble some of the classic works in the field of violence against women so that new generations of students, practitioners, and researchers would have a collective understanding of the work that has shaped the field. Included are commentaries from the original authors, when available, reflecting on why they authored the work when they did and the influence of their work on the field.
Whose Safety? Women of Color and the Violence of Law Enforcement (pdf)
This comprehensive research report documents how women of color, both immigrant and U.S-born, face violence and the abuse of authority from law-enforcement agencies - from local police to the prison system to INS raids. Drawing on interviews with nearly 100 anti-violence activists as well as published sources, "Whose Safety?" outlines community interactions with enforcement agencies, the impact of enforcement violence on key areas of women's lives, and current anti-violence movements.