Communities of Color

Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence: Cultural Challenges and Available Legal Protections

Sudha Shetty, J.D. and Janice Kaguyutan, J.D.,February 2002

The focus of this document is to raise awareness of both the challenges faced by battered immigrant women and some of the legal protections now available to them. The challenges include cultural beliefs and practices that provide rationalizations used to excuse and deny the existence of domestic violence in immigrant and refugee communities and barriers that confront battered immigrant and refugee women when accessing the services provided by public and private social service programs. This document also provides a broad outline of the legislative protections for battered immigrant women in the United States, which began as a situation of absolute control by the citizen or permanent resident spouse over the battered immigrant’s legal status, and has evolved to an understanding and passage of critical legal protections for immigrant victims of domestic violence.

VAWnet article link

Manavi, Inc.

Manavi is an organization dedicated to the empowerment of women who trace their cultural roots to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and SriLanka. Manavi provides the following culturally appropriate and linguistically specific services: court and medical accompaniment,interpreter services, temporary shelter, legal clinics and immigration-related assistance, women’s support groups, informational material that highlights women’s rights in society, and education and training for domestic violence practitioners.

A Brief History of Tribal Courts

The National Tribal Resource Center

The National Tribal Justice Resource Center is a central national clearinghouse of information for Native American and Alaska Native tribal justice systems. There are numerous resources including searchable databases of tribal court opinions; codes and constitutions;a listing of available publications; a training events calendar of seminars and conferences; funding opportunities; information about our programs and services; and much, much more.

http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org/

Domestic Violence and Tribal Protection of Indigenous Women in the United States

Gloria Valencia-Weber and Christine P. Zuni

The purpose of this article is to discuss openly the issue of the physical abuse of American Indian women in a manner that reflects the authors’ knowledge of how American Indian people live. It confronts presumptions or pre-existing notions about the indigenous people of the United States that pervade popular culture. The article examines the sovereign nature of the tribal nations within the parameters of both international law and United States jurisprudence. In addition, the article demonstrates how some tribes seek to protect their female members through codes, customary law, and intervention programs which provide services to victims, abusers, and their families.

Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community

University of Minnesota, School of Social Work, 290 Peters Hall, 1404 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, MN
55108-6142, Phone: (877) 643-8222

The goal sand objectives of the Institute are: create a community of African American scholars and practitioners working in the area of violence in the African American community; further scholarship in the area of African American violence; raise community consciousness of the impact of violence in the African American community; inform public policy;gather and disseminate information; organize and facilitate local and national conferences and training forums; secure resources to support and sustain the organization; and identify community needs and recommend best practices.

http://www.dvinstitute.org/

Black Women’s Health Imperative

The Black Women’s Health Imperative targets the most pressing health issues that affect Black women and girls in the U.S. through investments in evidence based strategies, bold programs and advocacy outreach on health policies.

https://bwhi.org