One woman at a time
By Tami Min
For battered women, getting help is the first step toward recovery. Many, however, feel stuck in abusive relationships because they lack financial or emotional independence.
Those who have immigrated illegally are arguably the most vulnerable victims. Some fear getting arrested and deported if law enforcement officials find out about their residency standing, according to the Los Angeles-based Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), while their abusers use that threat as a scare tactic against their victims.
APALC’s Violence Against Women Act program aims to educate women on their rights. A legal assistance program for battered women, it was one of three agencies in California that was awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Justice last October.
APALC’s first client through the Violence Against Women Act program was Tricia, who requested anonymity.
The 29-year-old resident of Glendale, came to the United States 15 years ago from the Honduras. Five years later, she married a family friend, a man 17 years her senior.
The abuse started during their first month together. She realized she had to get help when her son said that her husband was going to kill her. She went to the police last year, and an officer referred her to a shelter.
“It was a quick decision,” she said. “At that point, I was thinking my kids and my life, or death.”
She was given a list of 10 legal agencies that could help her gain independence from her husband and custody of her children.
“They all either had waiting lists or their rates were too high,” she remembered. “The last one I had to call was APALC.”
At a news conference April 12, APALC announced that the $268,000 grant has helped volunteer efforts beyond initial expectations, and has enabled the center to reach out to ethnic communities throughout Los Angeles County.
The existing lack of services for ethnic and low-income communities was obvious when the center first received the grant, which was designed to fund its legal assistance program for 18 months and for an estimated 75 clients. Since October, the center has already helped 86 clients and now plans to serve more than 140 people, said Elizabeth Chatham, coordinator for the Violence Against Women Act program — named after the legislation that was renewed last year to protect victims of domestic violence.
The grant has helped strengthen collaboration efforts with services that provide local emergency and transitional housing and relocation services, and with groups that provide language and cultural-sensitivity support. Under the CalWORKS welfare-to-work program, the organization also helps clients find daycare, counseling services, and financial, medical and job training assistance.
“Bridges are being built, but it’s a slow process,” Chatham said.
Although the center has already helped more than 70 women and their children through its civil legal assistance program, attorneys are looking to expand their network and services into Asian American communities which have been difficult to reach. As part of that effort, the organization is trying to enlist the help of bilingual attorneys who specialize in certain areas of family law.
The need for bilingual attorneys and counselors is critical, especially since immigrant victims who are not U.S. citizens often distrust the legal system. Chatham and others at APALC emphasize that domestic violence victims who are married to legal U.S. residents have rights. APALC helps women get restraining orders, file for divorce, gain employment rights and government benefits.
“They helped me,” Tricia recalled. “They went to the hearings with me. I’m rebuilding my life. I feel free and I am very happy now for my kids.” |
