The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #74925

Jennifer McCleary-Sills, Boston University School of Public Health, 16 Worcester Square, Apartment 1, Boston, MA 02118, 617-267-8901, jmcsills@bu.edu

Purpose: To illustrate how current U.S. immigration laws violate human rights as defined by UDHR. To describe how these violations increase battered immigrant women’s vulnerability to their abusers based on findings from qualitative interviews with South Asian battered women in Boston.

Significance: This project uses a human rights framework to analyze the impact of immigration laws on immigrant battered women’s experiences of abuse.

Methods: In-depth interviews and brief surveys were conducted with 24 immigrant (not asylee or refugee) South Asian women self-identified as victims of domestic violence. Women were recruited through referrals and community-based health surveys. Interviews conducted by trained research staff in English, Hindi and Bangla assessed the abuse history, health outcomes and service needs of the participants.

Results: UDHR established the responsibility of states to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of their residents, regardless of immigration status. U.S. immigration laws violate immigrant women’s human rights as defined by UDHR. As the primary applicant for visa, green card or resident status, the male partner controls the immigration process. All the women in our study suffered: threats of deportation, impeded access to appropriate medical care, financial and legal dependence, interference with immigration interviews and withholding of vital legal documents and information as a result of their immigration status. Many failed to report domestic abuse due to their fear of deportation or loss of legal status.

Conclusions: Violations such as those experienced by the women in our study could be reduced through policy changes that empower women as autonomous participants in their immigration process.

Learning Objectives:

After reviewing the poster presentation, observers will be able to:
• recognize how current immigration policies can violate human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948);
• understand how policies are used by batterers to abuse immigrant women, based on findings from a qualitative study with South Asian women;
• identify how immigration policy change can reduce battered immigrant women’s vulnerability to abuse.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.