As I was reading through my mail this morning I came across a rather concerning email from a colleague in another state. It seems that an advocate working in the Latina community in this state has had her life threatened by organized gang members and is now under protection by the FBI. This advocate has been helping victims in the Latina community connect with law enforcement to report abuse and violence. It is reported that victims in the Latina community have not viewed law enforcement as an option for fear of retaliation and open violence from the organized group of “high level Latino gangsters.”
In light of this situation taking place I thought it valuable to share the response from Alianza Latina en contra la Agresión Sexual. If you are having issues working with the Latina community I encourage you to contact the Indiana Latino Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence or contact INCASA – we are always here to help.
The Current State of Latin@ Victim Advocacy – August 2010
• The confluence of ethnicity, race, language, class, gender, and immigration
status place countless Latinas among the most vulnerable targets of multiple
forms of violence.
• According to the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) Study, Latina victims of
sexual assault suffer revictimization or multiple forms of abuse, yet only 3.3
percent utilize victim services.
• The economic crisis is forcing millions of Latinas to endure abusive working
conditions for a paycheck. Equal Rights Advocates, the San Francisco-based
national women’s rights advocacy organization has seen a 100% increase in
calls from complainants of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace.
• Many Latin@ victims of sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, rape, human
trafficking, and intimate partner violence are not aware of existing services or
cannot access them.
• Most rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters do not have adequate
numbers of Spanish-speaking staff to meet the needs.
• Most rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters do not have Spanishlanguage
victim services content on their websites.
• Many Latina victim advocates leave victim services because of burnout due to
overload and overextension with additional uncompensated interpreter and
translation duties, ongoing lack of tangible support, and/or tokenism.
• The loss of an agency’s single bilingual staff oftentimes implies starting from
scratch on multiple levels, and reestablishing critical links and confianza or trust
with Latin@ communities.
The Importance of Continuity and Confianza (trust)
Effective outreach programs that have made inroads with marginalized communities
should never be abruptly halted or discontinued. The consequences of doing so may not
only promote revictimization but also damage an agency’s reputation within the affected
population and destroy the trust that has been built. This could result in 50 steps
backward or 20 years of regression.
“Allí no quieren a las mexicanas.” (They don’t like Mexicans over there – actual
statement by a survivor.)
Perpetrators may interpret discontinued support and inaction as a license to terrorize
certain communities without consequence. Agencies may thus inadvertently find
themselves becoming colluders with the perpetrators of violence!!!
Recommendations:
New outreach efforts and programs require ongoing support from an agency as a whole
and should not become the sole responsibility of a single bilingual victim advocate.
Outreach programs should never be developed or implemented in a vacuum, but rather
respond to service area population needs.
Outreach programs are key to meeting Latin@ survivor needs and to engaging our
growing communities as active agents of change in anti-violence work. The number of
people of Latin American origin is projected to grow to one quarter of the total U.S.
population by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Hispanic Research Center).
Programs and services should be planned for accordingly.
The ideas and opinions of those who develop programs and audience members should
be considered when alterations are being considered.
Efforts should be made to gather information about how similar issues and concerns
were addressed with mainstream populations before suspending services to Latino
communities.
If the community feels unprepared to deal with the threats and actions of batterers or
rapists, then that’s when we come together on behalf of the women and families living
with the violence and our community. Now more than ever the survivors must know que
no están solas!!! Backing off leads to further revictimization and poly-victimization of
those who now suffer in silence.
Threats to those providing victim advocacy services merit an urgent and swift community
wide response that includes its Community Stakeholders:
• Department of Public Safety
• Federal Bureau of Investigations
• Municipal Leadership-Mayor, Manager’s
Office & Council
• District Attorney’s Office
• District and County Court Judges
• County Probation
• Police and County Sheriffs
• State Parole
• Federal Probation
• Juvenile Probation
• Family Violence Services
• Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART)
• Survivor’s Representatives
• Batterer’s Intervention
• Child Protective Services
• Teen & Adolescent Services
• Social Services Representatives
• Promotoras or Community Health Workers
• Reproductive Rights Groups
• University or College Representatives
• Legal Aid
• Mental Health Care Services
• Substance Abuse Services
• Faith Community
• Public Housing
• Immigrant Rights Groups
• Civil Rights Groups
• Corporate Community
Community organizing is critical!
Throughout history, victim advocacy has been linked to community organizing. Actions
based on discussions that took place within Consciousness Raising groups created by
feminist activists in the late 60’s and 70’s led to the creation of the first shelters and rape
crisis centers. The victim advocates of that era did not back down but instead stood
together when they were threatened for creating shelters in private homes or for
defending the rights of survivors of rape.
Many victim advocates have invested so much time in creating the “buffer zone” for the
survivors with the stakeholders in a united front informing the collective of abusers and
sexual assault offenders that their behavior will not be tolerated and that it will have
consequences. However, many Latin@ victim advocates work in isolation without the
support of other Latin@ mentors and/or culturally sensitive supervision. Their
achievements and inroads are due to the effective community relationships and
collaborations that they are able to cultivate.
Rather than discontinue much-needed programs and services, victim advocates and the
survivors they serve need to be able to rely on both agency and community support.
“I was threatened with harm for the nine years I worked with Latina SA survivors in
Oregon, as were other Latinas in other community programs working with nuestras
familias… When we banded together and accompanied each other we found it beneficial
for both our programs and our outreach advocacy which provided a wrap-around service
(addressing more than one issue) for the Latina survivor.”
–Clara Galvan-Lindstrom, veteran Latina victim advocate and ALAS founding member
* * *
ALAS Website Review Shows Grave Lack of Services
Partial results of an ALAS review of web content in the 15 states with half a million or
more Hispanics, indicate a grave lack of victim services information in Spanish. In
California, Texas, and Florida, the three states with a combined total of over 26 million
Hispanics according to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau projections, only 12 of the 178 active
rape crisis centers and dual services program websites include 900 words or more in
Spanish. The majority (65%) of ALAS members polled voted on 1000 as the minimum
number of words that an agency website should include in Spanish. ALAS members are
victim advocates, Latina direct service staff, trainers, prevention specialist, and coalition
staff across the nation. This official statement includes 1,123 words.
Diverse References and the Symbol
The term “Hispanic” is used in many official government publications and by some
agencies and individuals while “Latino” is generally used by grassroots organizations
and community-based initiatives that embrace a shared Latin American or Latino
Americano heritage. Many Latin American university students and feminist groups have
adopted the use of the @ or “at” sign (that includes both an “a” and “o”) as a genderneutral
substitute for masculine and feminine gender nouns in Spanish, i.e., a Latina is a
female and a Latino is a male.
“Latin@” refers to both. Some victim rights groups in the U.S. like Arte Sana, have
incorporated this symbol when possible appropriate since 2001.
About the Authors
Arte Sana (art heals) is a national Latina-led nonprofit committed to ending sexual
violence and other forms of gender-based aggressions and engage marginalized
communities as agents of change. Founded in 2001 and based in the border state of
Texas, Arte Sana promotes awareness, healing, and empowerment through bilingual
professional training, community education, and the arts. Of the 8,975 persons who
participated in Arte Sana’s training and community education up until the first half of
August 2010, over 2,897 or 32% received the information in Spanish.
To learn more about Arte Sana visit www.arte-sana.com
ALIANZA – The National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence
was established as one of three domestic violence “Cultural Institutes” to address the
particular needs and concerns of communities of color experiencing family violence.
Alianza specifically addresses the needs of Latino/a families and communities, although
its work helps to inform the domestic violence field in general. Alianza’s work has been
in four main areas: community education, policy advocacy, research, and training and
technical assistance. It has grown into a national network of Latina and Latino
advocates, practitioners, researchers, activists, and survivors of domestic violence.
To learn more about the National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic
Violence visit www.dvalianza.org
