Working to relieve cultural obstacles in Domestic Violence/
Working to relieve cultural obstacles Men, women helped to shun violent homes Ana Casas was a familiar face at 235 W. Creighton Ave. Casas and her husband, Simon Rios, received counseling in the stately home that houses the Center for Nonviolence after a domestic violence incident in 2003. Her death Dec. 13 – allegedly at the hands of her husband – hit close to home for everyone at the center, especially those who had known the couple, said Ana Giusti, the center’s Latina women’s coordinator. For more than a decade, the center has been a leading resource in Allen County for Hispanics dealing with domestic violence. As the Hispanic population in northeast Indiana has grown by more than a quarter since 2000, leaders in the Hispanic community have sought to overcome cultural barriers that keep domestic violence victims from seeking help. More than 250 Hispanic domestic-violence victims statewide sought help in emergency shelters last year, accounting for 5.6 percent of total cases, according to the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Since 1999, the earliest that the coalition could provide demographic data, that number has steadily increased. From July 1999 to June 2000, 4.1 percent of adult victims who sought shelter were Hispanic, according to coalition data. The Center for Nonviolence provides resources for the area’s increasing Hispanic immigrant population, including Spanish-language support groups for both women and men. While the root causes of domestic violence – power and control – tend to be the same in any language, working with Hispanics presents unique challenges, Giusti said. The majority of women who come to the Center for Nonviolence do not speak English and are isolated and unfamiliar with the area. They might be unemployed and dependent on their spouses or partners for money or transportation, Giusti said. Added to that are threats from abusive partners of further violence, or to take the children. Traditional Hispanic culture presents its own challenges in addressing domestic violence, especially violence against women by men, she said. Generally speaking, the Hispanic culture puts emphasis on the male head of the household, followed by the woman and the children, said Giusti, a Peruvian. Teaching equality One of the hardest concepts to make both male and female Hispanic clients understand is that both sexes are equal, and that men do not “own” their families, Giusti said. After that, facilitators of the support groups must teach clients that any violence or oppression is abuse. The clients might come from an area where battering is just an accepted way of life. In many cases, they have grown up with abusive, often alcoholic fathers, Giusti said. “Some people have never had anyone sit down with them and explain what is right and wrong,” she said. A Spanish-language women’s support group, Mujeres Unidas (United Women), is offered Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the center. Transportation is provided on Tuesday, and the center provides child care for children up to age 6 and educational activities for children ages 7 to 17 while their mothers are in the group. Mujeres Unidas offers a program on domestic violence, as well as information about health, social services, housing and legal issues, Giusti said. In addition to its women’s groups, the center offers a group for Hispanic men convicted of domestic violence who are court-mandated to attend classes. The not-for-profit center doesn’t turn anyone away for financial reasons, but clients who are court-mandated pay on a sliding scale based on income, Giusti said. Men who go through the center’s program attend 29 classes. For 10 weeks, they receive information on domestic violence. After that, they’re encouraged to talk with one another. The format is intended to break through the machismo. By the time the men are asked to share their feelings, they have become familiar with one another, Giusti said. “They become really good support of each other,” she said. “I’ve seen men crying, but it takes a long time.” Giusti believes that in cases of domestic violence, it’s hard to quantify successes and failures. “I think you change if you want to change,” she said. “Some people won’t change.” The center’s services emphasize breaking the cycle of violence, which Giusti describes as a learned behavior and not unique to domestic-violence cases involving Hispanics. Even children who never see their parents fight usually know something is wrong, she said. In extreme cases, women sometimes become so frustrated with the violence against them that they take out their frustration on their children, maintaining the cycle. It’s one reason the center offers programs for children during Mujeres Unidas, as well as a Spanish-language parenting program on Tuesday evenings that shows how to be an effective parent without using violence. Crucial connections For many women in northeast Indiana’s close-knit Hispanic community dealing with domestic-violence issues of their own, Ana Casas’ death was a wake-up call, Giusti said. One woman told Giusti she decided to leave her abusive relationship after the center held a vigil service for Casas, a Mexican immigrant. “She said, ‘That night, Ana, I cried and cried and cried, because I pictured myself dead,’ ” Giusti recalled. Calls to the Fort Wayne Police Department’s Hispanic liaison office – many of them domestic violence-related – surged in the days after the deaths of Casas and her three young daughters, Detective Ricardo Robles said. Rios faces charges for those deaths, as well as the death of 10-year-old Alejandra Gutierrez of Fort Wayne. While tragedy spurred the increase in calls, Robles said he is grateful anytime Hispanics reach out to law enforcement. Many Hispanics come from regions where police are oppressive, so the department strives to earn the community’s trust through professionalism, Robles said. “If you don’t connect with the community, then everyone suffers,” he said. Robles, who joined the force more than 25 years ago, said the department continues to adapt to the region’s growing Hispanic population. “When I came on, there was a lot of old-school thinking, racism,” he said. “We had to pressure. We had to advocate change.” As part of the effort to connect to the Hispanic community, Robles has had a satellite office at the Center for Nonviolence every Thursday morning for walk-in reports for the past three years. Reports that the women make at the center are key down the road, if the women decide to apply for protective status or file for divorce. Every new report is a step in the right direction and has the potential to help the department when it has cases involving Hispanics in the future, Robles said. “You can’t measure (success) with the number of phone calls,” he said. “You can measure it with the ability to get the information when you need it.” Immigration status is one more way abusers can try to control victims, by threatening deportation if they seek out help, according to Giusti. Some women do not even know their legal status when they come to the center. Illegal immigrant women who are victims of abuse are eligible for shelter and other services under federal law, but many might not know this. “Our job is to provide public safety for all citizens in the community,” Robles said. The center’s programs include information on immigration status, and the center can direct women to resources for becoming documented and learning English. The Spanish-language services are not offered as a crutch but rather in recognition of the obstacles immigrant women face when learning English, Giusti said. amapes@jg.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Victims seek help Percentage of adult domestic-violence victims served in Indiana emergency shelters who were Hispanic: July 1, 1999 – June 30, 2000: 4.1 July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2001: 4.6 July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2002: data unavailable July 1, 2002 – June 30, 2003: 5.5 July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004: 5.5 July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005: 5.6 Source: Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Domestic violence resources for Hispanics •YWCA Offers one-on-one sessions, support groups and crisis shelter. Employs a Hispanic outreach advocate. Serves clients in Allen, DeKalb, Noble, Huntington, Wells and Whitley counties. 24-hour hotline: 260-447-7233 or 1-800-441-4073 •Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence 24-hour hotline: 1-800-332-7385 •Noble House (Noble County) Offers emergency shelter and victim’s advocate 24-hour hotline: 260-636-7160 or 1-800-567-9596 •Domestic Violence Civil Justice Alliance Offers free legal help for domestic violence victims: 1-800-442-8600 http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/15210832.htm?source=rss&channel=journalgazette_news