Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i7QLwKR03618; Thu, 26 Aug 2004 17:58:20 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 17:58:20 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <s12e2431.013@mailsrv21.gsu.edu> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2993] domestic violence and ESL students X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.5.1 Status: O Content-Length: 3231 Lines: 90 The issue of your Hispanic immigrants brings up for me the realization of language as a barrier to getting help. So many Latina women don't go to domestic violence shelters, and one of the reason is lack of or weak English skills. Daphne >>> sylvan@cccchs.org 08/26/04 3:10 PM >>> Hmmm, one possible (maybe probable) scenario is that they are protecting the guy out of the good-ole-boy network code. I think I would try to address that. For example, if the question is "are you aware that he could lose his license?" maybe the response would be something like "are you saying that if he abuses clients, he should still be allowed to continue to practice?" Or even straight out "who are you trying to protect here? The abuser/lawyer or the women who is the victim?" A second possibility is that they are dismissing the woman's claims based on how she's presenting them, her education level, her perceived mental illness, or [fill-in-the-blank-here]. This can (and probably does) easily work in combination with scenario number 1. That's why I suggest getting the woman the help she needs, including counseling to work with this and as a way of helping her be as clear as possible about what she's accusing (his cocaine use may or may not be germane to the case, for example). This may sound like I am buying into blaming the victim; I am not. It's just a fact that people who are one-down because of their social and economic class don't speak the same language and are therefore sometimes easily dismissed (and I don't just mean a language other than English, as I'm sure you understand). Most people who are not members of the dominant social class don't really know how to pursue this kind of case effectively, which is why she needs an advocate. I work with Hispanic immigrants, who have these strikes against them plus an actual language barrier and more or less complete lack of knowledge of how to work the system, not to mention being considered "illegal." It is sometimes overwhelming, but part of what we realize we need to do is to help them gain the knowledge they need to get what they need on their own as much as possible. So in this case, I see the necessity for a two-pronged approach. One works with the system and the other works with the woman. Both seem to be required. The resources posted earlier should provide some good information, perhaps on both fronts. Best of luck with this. ------- Sylvan Rainwater mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org Program Manager Family Literacy Clackamas Co. Children's Commission / Head Start Oregon City, OR USA -----Original Message----- From: nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Daphne Greenberg Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 7:51 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2988] RE: advice for battered woman Good question! All I know is what I have posted. I do know that she is running into the major obstacle that whenever she approaches anyone to take on the case (including the DA office), the attitude is of protecting the lawyer and not of protecting her. I wonder if people run into similar problems when the abuser is a police officer and the one who is being abused needs to call the police for help. Daphne
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Dec 23 2004 - 09:48:17 EST