A person with a disability has formidable obstacles to overcome. Sometimes, her assailant is her personal care attendant, and she is dependent upon him for food, clothing, mobility, and medical care. If a batterer takes away a person’s telecommunications device for the deaf (t.d.d), that survivor may not be able to call for help. Places where the survivor goes for counseling or refuge may not be accessible to her. Elderly women may have more serious barriers than younger women for some of the same reasons. 31 In addition, most people erroneously assume that people abused in later life are hurt by stressed caregivers. Older women may be especially concerned about losing their home, income from social security or health insurance if they leave their abusive spouses. Young women, particularly adolescents, may not be able to get access to services because of their age. Their relationships may not be taken seriously because of their youth. The law may not protect unmarried girls and women to the same extent it protects married girls and women. Women who do not speak English, who do not speak English well, and/or are struggling with immigration issues find it particularly hard to leave. There may be a lack of resources or advocacy for those not speaking English. Immigrant women may also be struggling with issues of dislocation, war and/or oppression in their country of origin, social upheaval, and acculturation. Those helpers who understand domestic violence may not understand immigrant issues, particularly the legal ones – and vice versa. A batterer may hammer on issues of racism and marginalization, telling her that she would betray her community, culture, race, country or ethnicity by telling others about the abuse. He may remind her that he will be punished more severely than an assailant from the dominant culture will. He’ll talk about how shameful her plight is and underline traditions of not going outside the group for help. He’ll invoke community traditions about the value of family and the necessity to keep the family together. He may emphasize that the community is extremely valuable because of the support it offers them in the face of discrimination. People who face discrimination daily have their energy siphoned off by bigotry - energy that is desperately needed for the daunting task of leaving a batterer. It is utterly exhausting being Black in America” says children’s advocate Marian Wright Edelman “physically, mentally and emotionally. There is no respite from your badge of color.”
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 08:37:07 +0000
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