Abel Vasquez-Osuna

ETHS 2430
05/03/2016

Domestic violence within the Latino culture

Domestic violence is a rising concern in the Latino population because of many different
reasons. One thing that must be kept in mind about domestic violence is that not every case is the
same, not all victims suffer from the same kind of the abuse for the same reason. During my
research into this topic a few problems rose up, one being that there has been limited research
done on domestic violence cases within the Latino population for reasons such as, not having
enough volunteers, and victims not coming forth to speak of domestic violence within their
home. Despite these limitations there have been enough studies with positive results to answer
why domestic violence is a big problem for the Latino population.
Every Domestic violence case is different regardless of ethnicity. Within the Latino
population there are many different reasons for why Domestic violence happens, for why victims
choose to stay in an abusive relationship and why they are afraid of seeking help. Some of the
more common reasons being, fear of deportation, keeping the family together, and still being in
love with his or her partner. For these reasons victims choose not to seek out help because they
are afraid of breaking apart the family, and in the Latino population the Familia is everything
to them. When in problems reach out to the family. This concept is worse for the mothers or
wives of a household because of the concept of Marianismo, where the woman in the
relationship must keep the household together by providing for her children, her husband, and
lastly herself. When woman are raised with this concept they feel this lifelong obligation every
day, and in some situations if a woman fails to provide for her immediate family she will be seen
as failing as a mother by the extended family and will in turn may cause domestic violence to
occur because her partner a man raised with the concept of Machismo; the concept in which a

man provides the family by working and providing the family economically, may hit her or force
her to keep these two ways of life.
Additionally many Latino/Latinas also witness domestic violence as children in their
homes, according to Julia L. Perilla author of Domestic violence as a human rights issue she
states that Families accept violence as a means to resolve conflict (108) this implants the idea
that using abusive methods such as yelling or hitting are good ways to solve problems within
partners. Returning to the concept of Machismo and Marianismo, Latino man raised with the
concept will feel as though the only way to maintain this balance is to remind his partner that she
must do her part and in some situations he may use a type of abusive behavior. This is all
because they grew up in a society where abusive behavior was acceptable and because of this
very same reason reaching out for help is seen as shameful or unnecessary. Battering of wives is
an expected and accepted part of marriage (Perilla 121) Why is this an acceptable concept to
Latinos? It may be because they grew up in it and thats all they know on how to resolve marital
problems. This is expected in the Latino culture and results in many family members blaming the
wife, the victim, because she is not doing her responsibility of providing for the family. The
problem only worsen in situations where the family is living in the U.S.
Due to the lack of financial stability in Mexico many Latinos travel to the U.S in search
of jobs and financial stability, mainly the men. Once he has gained enough financial stability his
family moves with him and here is where we may see the negative extremes of Machismo and
Marianismo. Because the man is the one working and providing money the wife is to stay home
and provide for their children as previously described. But because of the different society in
which they live in now, where there is equal freedom for woman they may want to change their
ways of Marianismo to one where there is equal responsibility between the two partners,

Various group participants mentioned the change in culture as a cause of IPV [Intimate
partner violence] (Klevens, Joanne, et al 148) Because of this change in partner dynamic, it may
result in the man abusing their partner to maintain the traditional roles of Machismo and
Marianismo.
Following up on the previous situation, some woman may find themselves in need of
their partner for financial stability as he may be the only source of income for the family.
According to an interview with Raquel Wood, who is the community resource director for South
Valley services and helps many woman find shelter, jobs, and safety from an abusive partner,
she informed me that many woman stay in abusive relationships because they dont know
anything else besides their partner. For some of these women their partner may be all they have
known throughout their life and being abused may be natural to them after many years of
occurrence. Raquel also informed me that many of the abused woman that she has worked with
are still in love with their partner even if they may hit them or abuse them, some of these woman
have grown to understand that their partner behaves the way they do because thats just who they
are. This is a problem when relocating to the United States because there are laws that protect
people from domestic violence occurrences and most of the time these victims are not aware of
them.
According to Hyunkag Cho et Al. who conducted a study on IPV prevalence within the
Latino population Highly acculturated Latinas were at an increased risk for reporting IPV
relative to Latinas with low levels of acculturation (1044) This means that the more time a
Latina has spent in the United States the more likely she is to report a domestic violence case
against her partner. This may be because in the time that she has spent living in the United States
these Latinas have learned and been educated on how the law works in the United States as to

say Mexicos laws. According to a short interview with Mike Daughtery, an officer of the
Woods cross police department who has worked for the police force for 16 years, if an officer
has the suspicion or is aware that there is a domestic violence occurrence between partners the
officer must make an arrest and ensure the safety of the victim. This and much more information
must be put out to the public to raise awareness of the legal rights that each person as a human
being holds regardless of ethnicity, or legal status.
As previously stated Domestic violence is a rising concern in the Latino population for
various reasons and for this I have brainstormed a realistic strategy that would help inform the
people of their rights to help them stop domestic violence. But before I got started I had to set a
specific problem in mind for me to brainstorm a proper solution. The problem that I set out to
solve was the lack of education within the Latino population on their legal rights for domestic
violence occurrences within the U.S, because according to Hyunkag Cho et Al. Latinas who
had at least 12 years of education were more likely to report victimization than those who had
less than 12 years of education (1051). This single statement presents another big problem
because many Latino/Latinas dont have very high levels of education as some begin working to
feed and sustain their families from very young ages.
Because of these reasons I had to brainstorm a solution that would incorporate three key
parts, 1. The solution must be free to the public, this way it can reach as many people as possible
without the concern for a cost. 2. The solution must be in a public place with a high
concentration of Latinos and 3. The solution must be simple for the victims. With these tree key
points in mind I created my solution which is to hand out pamphlets holding information on
basic legal rights that each person has at local catholic churches. The cost to print out 1000
pamphlets form the SLCC printing services is only $300.00 dollars, which could easily be

fundraised by individuals or possibly donated by a local company. These pamphlets would hold
information such as phone numbers and addresses that victims can reach out to, and quotes from
officers stating that legal status does not matter to local police officers (in Utah). The reason for
the specific quotes is because many Latinos who are undocumented fear that they may be
deported immediately after an investigation or arrest for a domestic violence occurrence. But
during the interview with Officer Mike Daughtery, I asked for his comment to the following
statement, Many Latino/Latinas who are victims of domestic violence are afraid to seek help
from officials due to legal status, what is your response to this? Officer Daughtery responded
with the following, They still have the same rights as an American citizen This was a great
response as it shows that there are officers out there who are willing help regardless of who you
may be and this is something that the Latino population needs to know. That there are sources
out there that can help you and that you as a victim should not be afraid of seeking help.
Additionally during my interview with Raquel Wood, she commented on my solution to this
problem by saying that We should not just inform, but empower the victims. By this she meant
that we must let them feel power, the power to reach out for help without fear.
Unfortunately with domestic violence comes many possible areas of resistance. There are
three major areas of resistance for domestic violence the first being the victims themselves. As
previously stated many victims dont realize that they may be in an abusive relationship, and in
fact may still be in love with their abuser, their partner. This would be a very problematic
resistance as many woman wont reach out for help because they simply do not know that they
are in fact being abused. The next area of resistance for my solution would be the perpetrators of
the victims as they will block information for victims to reach out to and possibly convince their
victim that what they do is not abuse but rather are just simply solving a conflict between

patterns or say that being aggressive is just the way they are. Finally the last area of resistance
would be the family of the victim and society in general. As I previously explained the concept
of family to the Latino population is everything to them, and whenever a Latino needs help they
reach out to their own family members. But in this situation the family itself does not help,
instead they explain to the victim that as a woman she must endure for the family, and in some
situations may blame the victim with their reasoning being that she is not contributing as a
mother to the family and thus is the reason for why she was beaten or hit.
Even with all the possible areas of resistance against my solution, I still believe that it is a
very realistic solution as it does not require any sort of cost from the victim. This was my one
goal that I set out to accomplish and I did. Domestic violence is a very scary concern and will
only keep on getting worse as more time goes by because of the growing Latino population. This
is why we must start methods that prevent domestic violence. It is never too late to save someone
from a domestic violence occurrence, we as bystanders must be aware of these situations and
reach out to victims to let them know that it is possible to move on from these situations.
Because if the victim does not know of the possibilities that they hold, how will they ever escape
an abusive relationship.

Bibliography
1. Cho, Hyunkag, Daniel Velez-Ortiz, and Jos Rubn Parra-Cardona. "Prevalence Of
Intimate Partner Violence And Associated Risk Factors Among Latinos/As: An
Exploratory Study With Three Latino Subpopulations." Violence Against Women 20.9
(2014): 1041-1058. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
2. Perilla, Julia L. "Domestic Violence As A Human Rights Issue: The Case Of Immigrant
Latinos." Hispanic Journal Of Behavioral Sciences 21.2 (1999): 107. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
3. Klevens, Joanne, et al. "Latinos' Perspectives And Experiences With Intimate Partner
Violence." Violence Against Women 13.2 (2007): 141-158. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
4. Raquel Wood, Community resource director for South Valley Services.
5. Mike Daughtery, Officer for Woods Cross Police Department.