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This article explores battered immigrant women's use of protection orders. It presents an exploratory view of battered immigrant women's knowledge of protection orders, the reasons leading them to file for protection orders, the remedies they sought in the protection orders, their views on what would improve the process of obtaining protection orders, and their experiences with the violations of protection. One hundred and fifty-three abused immigrant women were recruited from agencies serving immigrants and interviewed by advocates they knew. The results showed that, like women from other marginalized populations, battered immigrant women were unaware of protection orders as legal remedies. Other results showed some commonalties between battered immigrant women's experiences and abused women from mainstream cultures in the United States. However, unique factors such as immigration-related abuse and the unpreparedness of the justice system to serve abused women with diverse needs require further research and more appropriate personnel training and policy.

The unregulated nature of the international marriage broker (IMB) industry endangers women by denying them information necessary to make informed choices with respect to their intended U.S.-based citizen spouses. This article (a) provides an overview of the contemporary IMB industry, including a discussion of reasons underlying women's choices to use IMB agencies to meet and marry U.S.-based spouses, (b) discusses how this industry's marketing of marriages potentially endangers many women recruits, and (c) offers an update and analysis of new provisions under U.S. immigration law that strengthen protections available for women who immigrate as fiancés and spouses of U.S. citizens, including those in marriages arranged by IMBs.

This paper addresses the experiences of battered immigrant Latina women when contacting police for assistance in attempting to reduce, end or flee violence. The research consists of interviews with 230 battered immigrant Latina women experiencing violence. The analysis examined the factors contributing to the extent, frequency and readiness of the women to call the police. The police response to and the effect of seeking help by battered immigrant Latina women on arrest of the perpetrator were also explored. The results show that the number of times and the frequency of contacting the police among battered immigrant Latina women was far less than would be expected based on their experiences with intimate partner violence. The factors which led women to call the police were mostly related to the stability of their immigration status, their children's exposure to violence, the women's region of origin and the frequency of domestic violence. The police response to this group of women demonstrates a lack of cultural sensitivity, and produces concerns regarding language accessibility and low rates of arrest. The paper concludes with recommendations about the need to better incorporate immigration as an additional factor in understanding intimate partner violence and help-seeking from police. We propose more thorough diversity training of police focusing particularly on immigrant battered women; the availability of interpreters for such calls within the immigrant communities; educating of the police about appropriate culturally based services available in their communities and better understanding of immigration options for battered immigrant women, including the protections afforded by the Violence Against Women Act.

Although domestic violence plagues communities of all races, socio-economic status and geographical locations, some communities within the U.S. are more vulnerable because victims' alternatives to living with their abuser are more limited and they face more obstacles to obtaining the assistance they need to escape the violence. A particularly vulnerable group are Hispanic immigrants residing in the U.S. who have been described as living in more difficult conditions. Latina immigrants and refugees face stresses of acculturation and language, in addition to the limited opportunities afforded to other ethnically diverse groups in the U.S. This article examines the prevalence of various forms of domestic violence experienced by Latina immigrant women, the nature of the battering and extreme cruelty they experience, and public policy implications of the findings. Undocumented and recently documented Latina women (n=280) were interviewed about their experiences relating to domestic violence. A large proportion of the survey participants in the three groups (48.0 percent) were undocumented, unpartnered (56.5 percent), and employed (52.9 per cent). Participants reporting being in the U.S. for an average of 5.1 years. Based on their responses, participants were identified as ‘Physically and/or Sexually Abused’ (n=136), ‘Psychologically Abused Only’ (n=33), or ‘Non-Abused’ (n = 107). Results showed that 49.3 percent of all participants reported having experienced physical abuse, 11.4 percent sexual abuse, 60.0 per cent dominance/isolation-type psychological abuse, and 40.7 percent emotional/verbal-type psychological abuse from an intimate partner. Physically and/or sexually abused women reported higher rates of several types of dominance/isolation compared to those in the psychologically abused only group. There were no differences between the two groups in emotional/verbal abuse. Physically and/or sexually abused women experienced more threats, including threats to harm children and other family members, to take the woman's money, to call Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), and to kill her, compared to psychologically abused only women. The implication for policies related to battered immigrant women is discussed.

A nurse-midwife may be one of the first professionals domestic-abuse victims talk to about the abuse. Like other health professionals who see abuse victims for health issues often unrelated to abuse, nurse-midwives have a special opportunity to identify, intervene, and support victims of domestic violence. Professionals working in health care will see abuse victims when they are living with their abusers and do not know that abuse is abnormal, when they attempt to leave their abusers, when they return to their abusers, and when they ultimately separate. Justice system professionals only see abuse victims when they have decided to try to leave. A thorough knowledge about relief available in the legal system for abuse victims will allow nurse-midwives to help battered women effectively. This article discusses the role nurse-midwives should play in assisting abuse victims who will be seeking help from the civil and criminal justice systems. Topics discussed include the importance of documenting injuries for use in future court cases, civil protection orders, criminal court prosecutions of the abuser, legal malpractice issues if health providers do not identify battered women, informing and referring domestic-violence victims, and the special needs of immigrant women. The article also discusses typical problems victims encounter in the legal system and ways victims can overcome these barriers.

This article explores two developments in immigration law that have provided avenues for women seeking lawful immigration status to independently assert their rights. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed into law on September 13, 1994 and contains the Battered Immigrant Women Provisions that allow battered women to obtain lawful permanent resident status through self-petitioning or suspension of deportation. VAWA applicants should obtain assistance from an immigration expert who can help them in acquiring work authorization and who could prove that the applicant's deportation would result in extreme hardship to themselves or to their children. Other requirements and important details of these provisions are substantially explained in the article. The second development involves the issuance by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on May 26, 1995, of a memorandum setting forth considerations for the evaluation of women's asylum claims. This memorandum is entitled "Considerations For Asylum Officers Adjudicating Asylum Claims From Women" and sets out guidelines that provides access to political asylum to women seeking protection from gender-specific persecution. A summary of the issues addressed by the INS gender guidelines are presented.