Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence, including immigrants. In fact, undocumented immigrants are particularly vulnerable because they do not believe they have the traditional legal means for help that are available to citizens.
Abusers often try to use a person’s immigration status as a method to control or abuse an immigrant victim. For example, a U.S. citizen husband who constantly threatens to call the immigration authorities on his undocumented immigrant wife allows him to control and abuse her through her fear of being deported.
The Sarasota domestic battery lawyers at the Fowler Law Group understand the abnormal difficulties that immigrants who are being battered have to face. If you are an immigrant being battered, contact us for help. We will treat your case with compassion, empathy, and kindness.
Facts About Immigrant Women and Domestic Violence
According to Futures Without Violence:
- 48 percent of Latinas reported that their partner’s violence against them had increased since they immigrated to the United States.
- A survey of Korean immigrant women found that 60 percent had been battered by their husbands.
- Married immigrant women experience higher levels of physical and sexual abuse (59.5 percent) than unmarried immigrant women (49.8 percent).
- As mentioned above, abusers often use their partners’ immigration status as a tool for control and abuse, usually exerted to force them to remain in the relationship.
- Immigrant women often suffer higher rates of battery than U.S. citizens because they come from cultures that accept domestic violence. Furthermore, immigrant batterers and victims may believe that the penalties and protections of the U.S. legal system do not apply to them.
- Battered immigrant women who attempt to flee may not have access to bilingual shelters, financial assistance, or food. It is also unlikely that they will have the assistance of a certified interpreter in court when reporting complaints to the police or a 911 operator, or even in acquiring information about their rights and the legal system.
What Can Be Done to Help Battered Immigrants?
The primary mission of those who wish to assist battered immigrants is to get the word out. Although they may not know it, victims of domestic violence have the right to be safe, regardless of their legal status in the United States. Victims may worry that they don’t have the right to call the police if they are being abused, but that is simply not true.
If you are an immigrant victim of domestic violence, when you contact the police for assistance, their duty is to protect you from your abuser. They are not supposed to call ICE to inform them you are in the United States without legal status.
If you are afraid of your abuser or think they may hurt you, you can go to the court or the police to ask for a restraining order.
If you are a victim of domestic violence and you do not have legal status in the U.S., you should contact immigration lawyers and advocates, like the Sarasota domestic battery lawyers at the Fowler Law Group, to help protect you. You should be aware that the U.S. legal system designed to protect battered women applies to you in the same way it applies to citizens.
Contact the Sarasota Domestic Battery Lawyers at the Fowler Law Group if You Are a Battered Immigrant
Immigrants who suffer from domestic violence are in a hard spot. Most don’t know that help without deportation is available, and they often lack the language skills to even ask for help. If you are an abused immigrant or know of one, let the Sarasota domestic battery lawyers at The Fowler Law Group help. Please contact us online.