President's Column:
Answering a Call to Share
By Consuela Pinto, WBA President
The WBA and the American University Washington College of Law (WCL) came together on October 29 for an annual celebration of our shared history. The theme for the evening, Domestic Violence and Immigration, was a timely one—October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The evening was marked by a series of inspirational speakers, including Leslye E. Orloff, Immigrant Women Program, Legal Momentum; Amy Myers, WCL Domestic Violence Clinic; Elizabeth Keyes, WCL Practitioner-in-Residence with the International Human Rights Law Clinic; and keynote speaker, the Honorable Vanessa Ruiz, District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The evening culminated with closing remarks by Billie Jo Kaufman, Associate Dean for Library and Information Resources. Dean Kaufman challenged the attendees to share all that we learned that night. I am answering that call by sharing all that I learned with each of you.
As we all know, domestic violence is a significant problem nationwide and DC is no exception. Consider the following key statistics:
- One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. 1
- In 2005, the DC Metropolitan Police Department received 27,401 domestic-related crime calls—one every 19 minutes, including 11,053 calls to report domestic violence crimes (30 calls per day) and 16,348 calls to report family dispute crimes (45 calls per day). 2
- A study in New York City found that 51 percent of intimate partner homicide victims were foreign-born, while 45 percent were born in the United States. 3
Immigrant women's citizenship status often makes it more difficult for them to escape abuse than U.S.-born victims. Their abusers threaten to kidnap their children or have them deported, prohibit them from learning English, isolate them from family, friends and medical care, and deny them access to money. They are also less likely than U.S.-born victims to seek help or report abuse because of cultural and religious beliefs. Immigrant women who are able to escape their abusers have difficulty getting access to adequate domestic violence services because of a language barrier.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides special protections for immigrant domestic violence victims. VAWA allows battered immigrants to petition for legal status in the United States without relying on their abusers to sponsor them. The purpose of the VAWA program is to allow victims the opportunity to “self-petition” or independently seek legal immigration status in the United States. If a VAWA self-petition is approved, the immigrant victim may file an application to become a lawful permanent resident.
VAWA's protections are useless if victims can't get access to legal representation, bilingual shelters, and other necessary services. The economic downturn has made the plight of domestic violence victims in DC, foreign and U.S.-born, significantly worse. Two of DC's main domestic violence service providers, WEAVE and House of Ruth, are struggling to keep their doors open as a result of funding cuts.
As you read this response to Dean Kaufman's call to share, think about what you can do in response — take on a pro bono domestic violence matter, volunteer for a domestic violence provider, make a donation, or plan a fundraiser— and with whom you will share what you have learned from this letter.
1 National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, www.ncadv.org/Files/Newsletters/2009-2010/DomesticViolenceFactSheet(National).pdf, citing Patricia Tjaden & Nancy Thoennes, U.S. Dep't of Just., NCJ 181867, Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence, at iii (2000), available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/181867.htm.
2 Center Against Domestic Violence, www.dccadv.org/statistics.html, citing Metropolitan Police Department, 2004-2006.
3 www.abanet.org/domviol/statistics.html#immigrants, citing New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Femicide in New York City: 1995-2002 (2004), available at www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/ip/femicide1995-2002_report.pdf.
