Domestic Violence, Resource Utilization, and Survivor Solutions:

Voices of Ethnic Minority and LBGT Women

Marie Crandall, MD, Dept. of Health Services, School of Public Health and Community Medicine,
University of Washington
Kirsten Senturia, PhD, Public Health Seattle & King County
Marianne Sullivan, MPH, Public Health Seattle & King County
Sharyne Shiu-Thornton, PhD, University of Washington

Background
Public Health-Seattle & King County,
in partnership with the University of
Washington City of Seattle Domestic
and Sexual Violence Prevention Office
and five community-based domestic
violence service providers, recently
completed a research project that
provides new information on the
experiences of ethnic minority and
lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT)
women with domestic violence.
This project gathered information on
two specific topic areas:
1. Access to and satisfaction with
services for women who are
experiencing domestic violence in
Seattle (King County), Washington; and
2. The cultural experience of domestic
violence for women from specific ethnic
groups and the LBT community in
Seattle/ King County.
This research used qualitative methods
(focus groups and in-depth interviews)
to learn about women's experiences
with domestic violence. Women from the
following communities were
interviewed: African American,
American Indian/Alaskan Native,
Amharic-speaking (Ethiopian),
Cambodian, Filipina, Latina,
lesbian/bisexual/transgender, Russianspeaking, and Vietnamese.

Results
Experience of abuse
Participants reported experiencing
multiple forms of domestic violence,
including emotional abuse, all forms
of physical violence, sexual
abuse/rape, lack of access to money
and resources, and isolation from
family and friends. Unique features
for many of these survivors included
threats based on immigration/visa
status, threats against extended
family, using minority status and
language competence against the
women, and pressure to accept abuse
and not seek help outside of the
community.
These issues compound the difficulty
women from non-majority
communities experience in seeking
help. Even if help is available, and
women know about it, it is often not
culture- or language-specific, which is
a further barrier to gaining assistance.
"I believe that most Ethiopian women
do not know that there is help out
there. They do not even know what
ReWA [Refugee Women's Alliance] is.
There are men who do not want their
wives to go out of the house. They do
not want them to go to school... Women
do not know where to go. They do not
know how to speak English to
communicate". [Amharic-speaking
survivor of domestic violence]

Results

Results

Results

Recommendations

Women in focus groups repeatedly

said they had nowhere to go when
they experienced abuse, had few
personal economic resources to
draw upon and had difficulty
finding out about culture- and
language-specific domestic violence
services that help women and their
families in Seattle and King
County.

"[I have] three kids. I put them into

the Toyota and went around to all the
shelters. I was in a line with a bunch
of other women. I couldn't get into
them. They're full... Then I decided,
'Well, we can't live in the car with
two babies and a son that wasn't on
the proper behavior medications.' No
way, no way. So I tried thinking of all
the alternatives and what I came up
with was I don't have any options
right now because I don't have any
money. I decided to go back and if he
kills me at least they will have my
dead body to show that he did it, and
my children will be safe because he
will be in jail and he will be made
responsible for what he did to us."
[Native American survivor of
domestic violence]

Ideas for helping other women

Efforts to address domestic violence in

these communities must also address
underlying social issues such as racism,
homophobia, and economic
discrimination and recognize the
relationship of these forces to domestic
violence, to victims' responses, and to
system responses. Select
recommendations include:

Survivors' needs
Women in all groups spoke of a
profound need for social support
when they are experiencing and
recovering from domestic violence.
Since isolation is so often a tactic of
abusers, and since women in many
of the cultural groups are already
isolated by virtue of language
ability and immigration status, the
participants' emphasis on social
support cannot be overstated.
Participants in all cultural groups
discussed significant material needs
that can be barriers to seeking
services or leaving a violent
relationship.

Particularly for refugee and

immigrant women, lack of
knowledge about U.S. law, women's
rights and resources for safety,
immigration and legal issues were all
seen as major barriers to seeking
help. Many reported that, in their
home countries, domestic violence
resources are simply not available;
therefore the notion that service
providers will help can be a new
idea.

Across communities, survivors see

themselves as instrumental in
helping other women and their
communities address domestic
violence. Isolated victims and
survivors expressed strong desire for
opportunities to meet with other
women and organize themselves and
their communities against abuse.
Participants envision safe gathering
spaces for women, such as women's
centers or other community spaces
for survivors to receive support from
their communities. Women across all
groups called for more focus on men
and abusers, including batterers'
treatment and accountability. Many
cultural groups place a strong value
on keeping the family and the
community intact. Participants said
that because of this they would like
help intervening with the abuser, to
help the family or the relationship
stay together.
"I see that both men and women must
learn. Because if we only educate
women and men are not educated
then men still mistreat us...So we
must educate them on things that they
should not do and the law they should
obey." [Cambodian survivor of
domestic violence]

Fund community-based, culturally

and linguistically appropriate services
for non-mainstream women. Such
services are a viable model for serving
an increasingly diverse U.S.
population.
Fund same-culture and -language
support groups to serve as a forum for
victims to organize themselves and
their communities against domestic
violence, and reach out to other
victims.
Expand community-based domestic
violence services to help victims and
survivors access education, jobs, and
job training programs; to help them
acquire the skills to support themselves
and their children.
Reduce barriers to using the criminal
justice system for non-mainstream
women; recognize that lack of
knowledge of the system, lack of trust,
racism, homophobia, historic
relationships and fear of stereotyping
are all barriers to using services.
Develop and implement culturally
and linguistically appropriate
educational programs that inform
about domestic violence, promote
healthy family relationships and
provide culturally appropriate models
of such relationships in the schools.