1	Escape A culinary exploration of Guatemala. read more...
2	Salud Facing the realities of domestic violence in the Hispanic community. read more...
3	Spice New recipes for old favorites. read more...
4	Casa Design inspiration from Lorena Gaxiola. read more...
5	Driver’s Seat Sleek sedans that will start your engines. read more...

la buena vida

Salud

Facing Off DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence in the Hispanic community has a huge impact on women, families and the community. It’s not “someone else’s” problem —it’s all of our problem.

Domestic violence can take many forms—be it physical, verbal, emotional and sexual. It can vary from hitting and name-calling to controlling behavior and forced or degrading sex. In the Hispanic community, violence against Latinas by a domestic partner is sometimes viewed differently than it is by the rest of the country. Sara Torres, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., the associate dean of the School of
Nursing in the College of Health Sciences at Walden University, investigated domestic violence among Anglos and Hispanics, mainly Mexican Americans, and found compelling disparities on what Latinas consider abuse.
“Different groups approach domestic violence and cope with it differently,” Torres says. For instance, a high percentage of Hispanic women she interviewed didn’t consider constraining against one’s will, or throwing things, domestic abuse. However, some Latinas do and seek help. Sheryl Cates, CEO of the National
Domestic Violence Hotline says in 2007, her agency received 13,220 calls—13
percent of total call volume—in which the caller wanted to speak Spanish. (The hotline accommodates 170 languages.)
If the number seems small, that’s because Latinas tend to stay in abusive relationships— and are more apt to return if they leave. Torres claims, “Hispanic women are more likely to work it out because of their upbringing” that emphasizes keeping families together.
The reasons they stay vary, although in many cases it is because the women feel they have no support. “In some families, it’s accepted,” Torres says. Other factors include immigration issues that discourage women from seeking help for fear of being deported to their native country, lack of fi nancial resources, notions about respecting the man of the house, and religious beliefs that tell women they must
stay with their husbands.
“Battery is the single most common cause of injuries to women, surpassing car accidents and muggings combined,” says Walter F. Lambert, M.D., a pediatrician, associate professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and medical director of the Miami-Dade County Child Protection Team. Lambert specializes in identifying abuse in children who are also victims of domestic violence. “One in four Latino kids lives in domestic violence situations,” explains Amy Sanchez, chief executive of external relations for Casa de Esperanza, a
non-profi t that mobilizes Latino communities to end domestic abuse.
Domestic violence isn’t always easy to spot. “Thirty-three percent of injuries to women are between the collar bone and the top of legs,” says Cates, explaining the abuser often targets areas that won’t been seen because of clothing. Cates, whose own sister was in an abusive relationship with a successful man
for seven years, advises people to watch for signs—a partner who doesn’t want the victim to be around family or friends, accuses the woman of looking at other men and tells her not wear certain clothing.
Domestic abuse, though viewed as a family problem, has wider societal ramifi cations. A 2003 CDC report showed health-related costs of intimate partner violence against women exceeds $5.8 billion each year in the U.S. Productivity losses account for almost $1.8 billion; $4.1 billion was attributed to medical
and mental healthcare services. Domestic abuse, however, is on the decline,
thanks in part to less tolerance for it and other social changes.
Change in the Hispanic community, explains Sanchez, centers on prevention and
education. Her organization teaches about healthy relationships and works to educate clergy so that they support women who leave abusive homes. When victims say, “It’s a cross I bear for my children,” advocates can reframe those beliefs by answering, “God wouldn’t want your children to be hurting.”

“A Private Family Matter”

At 6’2 and 220 pounds, Victor Rivas Rivers looks like a man’s man. But, a real
man, he says, has nothing to do with size and stature; it’s someone who respects
women and stands up for them. Rivers, a former NFL Miami Dolphins player and
now an actor—you might have seen him as Jack Reese on the NBC show Life—is a national spokesperson for the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
The author of A Private Family Matter, Rivers grew up in an abusive home.
“My dad was a terrorist in our house,” he says. “We never knew what would
set him off.” If his father told a joke and the family didn’t laugh the right way, it
could trigger violence. He even kicked Rivers’ mother in the stomach while she
was nine months pregnant with one of his brothers, who as a result was institutionalized and only lived to age 9. His father also kidnapped the children and
moved them to another state. It took his mother six months to locate them.
Rivers found help in high school, when administrators and a group of families stepped in and helped raise him. Today he’s an advocate for violence prevention, stressing the importance of not standing by and doing nothing. His book’s title is based on a childhood experience, when he walked into the police department and took off his clothes, revealing injuries. “My dad took great care not to hit where you could see.” He begged cops to arrest his father, but they replied, “This a private family matter.” All they could do was fi le a formal complaint.
Rivers’ father eventually committed suicide, and today, his mom is retired. “If something went right [growing up], it came from my mother. She instilled a sense of good and resilience in her children because we broke the cycle of violence.” As
for forgiveness ... “I don’t allow his behavior in my house, and I preach peace ...
that’s how I’ve chosen to forgive him.”