For this assignment please first read pages 135-138 in your text: “Current Controversies: Gender Based Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: Heightened Vulnerabilities and Barriers to Help-

Immigrant Cultures, Contexts, and Legal Status Can Affect Vulnerability to Partner Violence

Immigration-related vulnerabilities do not incite violence against women but can facilitate its occurrence (without impunity) for the perpetrator, particularly when the perpetrator is a victim’s current or former partner. Not uncommonly, women follow male partners, have lower immigration standing than their male partners, and/or lesser capacity to independently operate and build social support in the United States, due to lesser English language skills, greater childrearing responsibility, or less knowledge around legal and financial systems in the United States (Raj & Silverman, 2002). These factors place women in a vulnerable position should a partner seek to control or violate them. Further, extensive evidence documents that immigrant and refugee women are less likely than U.S.-born women to acquire protections against an abusive partner. While there is much variation across national origins and circumstances of U.S. immigrant and refugee women, many of these nations of origin lack laws, police training, and/or formal social services to contend with GBV and, in particular, IPV in marital relationships (Raj & Silverman, 2002). Consequently, help-seeking via formal or criminal justice services may not be a woman’s first line of response for coping with violence. Further, avoidance of legal services in the context of tenuous legal status for residency due to lack of documentation, as reported by those holding legal permanent-residency status, can impede acquisition of legal protections from violence (Raj & Silverman, 2002). This may particularly be the case if the woman is on a spouse-dependent visa (Raj & Silverman, 2002). Support from health services may also be utilized less, as one third of immigrants, relative to 12% of native-born individuals, lack health insurance (Zong & Batalova, 2015). Further compounding these issues can be lack of English fluency; 25 million U.S. residents report limited proficiency in English (Zong & Batalova, 2015). Finally—and perhaps most importantly—immigrants and refugees face the double stigma of not wanting to disclose victimization due to fear of victim blaming and not wanting to reinforce negative stereotypes or impressions of their immigrant community (Raj & Silverman, 2002). Sensitivity and efforts to counterbalance the effects of these immigration-related vulnerabilities may be helpful when offering victims support.

Harmful Social Practices Linked to GBV in Immigrant and Refugee Communities

While there is not direct and consistent data to indicate IPV and sexual violence are more likely in immigrant and refugee communities (Breiding et al., 2014; Raj & Silverman, 2002; Vaughn, Salas-Wright, Cooper-Sadlo, Maynard, & Larson, 2014), evidence exists that harmful social practices related to forms of GBV, such as child and forced marriage and female genital cutting (FGC), still occur in some U.S. immigrant and refugee women communities (Ameresekere et al., 2011; Raj, 2010; Raj & Silverman, 2002). Women affected by these practices may be stigmatized in the United States, compromising their capacities to comfortably seek services related to the negative social or health consequences of these practices (Ameresekere et al., 2011). In addition, the practices may continue covertly, despite the fact they are not legal in the United States. While only 4% of women in the United States aged 18–44 years indicate marriage prior to age 18 years (Copen, Daniels, Vespa, & Mosher, 2012), research suggests that such practices may be occurring at a higher rate than understood within U.S. immigrant communities (Tahirih Justice Center, 2011). Studies from outside of the United States document that the practices of child and forced marriage and FGC not only intersect with each other but also are more likely to be reported in the context of marriages characterized by physical and sexual violence from husbands, as well as in the context of political conflict, where women may be more vulnerable to sexual and physical violence from soldiers, police, or others (Raj, 2010). Such findings reinforce other studies’ findings documenting the interrelatedness of forms of violence against and sexual control of women, but they also highlight the fact that means of violence and control can be culturally specific (Raj, 2010). Of concern is the existence of intergenerational reinforcement of these practices, even by parents who recognize the harm, due to the risk of social stigma within their community for girls who do not adhere to certain practices, in addition to a desire to retain culture upon immigration to the United States (Raj, 2010; Tahirih Justice Center, 2011). This is not a small concern, as over 17 million children under age 18 live with an immigrant parent (Zong & Batalova, 2015). Supporting women who have had these experiences, as well as children that may have these behaviors imposed upon them, is important, given the demonstrated deleterious health effects of these practices (Ameresekere et al., 2011; Raj, 2010). It is crucial to provide support in a way that is respectful, appreciative of culture, and inclusive of community in order to facilitate a more positive response to interventions against these harmful practices and to alleviate the negative social or health consequences.

Migration and Vulnerabilities to Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls

While the majority of immigrants to the United States come for economic and labor opportunities without force, trickery, or debt bondage, this is not the case for some women and girls. The U.S. State Department estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year, and of these, 80% are female, and half are under the age of 18 years (Clawson, Dutch, Solomon, & Grace, 2009). The majority (70%) are forced into the sex industry, which can include street prostitution, massage parlors, pornography, and other sex entertainment venues (Clawson et al., 2009, Polaris Project, 2010). Under the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, sex trafficking involves “a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.” The majority of victims are from Mexico, Central America, and Asia, but it varies from state to state. They typically arrive without immigration papers, leaving them vulnerable to their traffickers. Case analysis documents both violence and severe sexual and reproductive health risks at the hands of traffickers, with little recourse on the part of victims (Deshpande & Nour, 2013; Miller, Decker, Silverman, & Raj, 2007; Polaris Project, 2010). Similar to immigrant victims of IPV, as described earlier, language barriers, compounded by social and physical isolation, may further impede a victim’s capacity to acquire help. Community-based supports may not be available to this particular population, as her surrounding community may be traffickers and clients. Further, it is not uncommon for trafficking victims to be relocated repeatedly by traffickers to hide their activities; such movement impedes victims’ ability to gain social support and assistance from those outside the trafficking group. As a $32 billion global industry, it provides substantial resistance against outreach and intervention with these women and girls, and subsequently, criminal justice measures are particularly important.

Conclusion and Implications

While we do not have clarity regarding whether immigrants, as a group, are at increased risk for GBV as a whole, we do know that there are specific GBV vulnerabilities immigrant and refugee women and girls face, as described throughout this essay. Issues of culture and context of origin, language, immigration pattern of entry, and legal status all affect the types of GBV that immigrant and refugee women and girls may experience, as well as the type of barriers they may face in terms of support and assistance needed and sought. Research demonstrates the utility of within-community supports for women who have been victimized; immigrant and refugee women are more likely to disclose violence and seek assistance from those within their community or family rather than formal legal or social services (Raj & Silverman, 2002). As networks or programs within immigrant communities may be less resourced or lack necessary training to provide support, partnership between these and formal services may be useful. However, for women and girls who may have been taken from their community, as is the case for trafficking victims, criminal justice services must be prioritized. Certainly, formal services