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324388
Community Perspectives -- Latinos & Intimate Partner Violence


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Shireen Rajaram, Ph.D., Department of Health Promotion and Social and Behavioral Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, Omaha, NE
Ana Barrios, B.A., Catholic Charities' Juan Diego Center, Omaha, NE
Elisha Novak, M.A., Justice For Our Neighbors-Nebraska, Omaha, NE
Jossy Rogers, B.A., Catholic Charities, Omaha, NE
Sandra Leal, Omaha, NE
Ashvita Garg, M.B.B.S., Department of Health Promotions, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Introduction: Gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical public health issue among all communities, particularly among vulnerable immigrant women who may be undocumented. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act created a nonimmigrant visa (U-Visa) to provide lawful immigration status to undocumented crime victims who are willing to assist authorities in investigating crimes. This study explores community perspectives of IPV, and the U-visa. 

Methods: Survey data from a convenience sample were gathered using structured and semi-structured questions translated into Spanish and administered by three bilingual service providers at a Health Fair in the community. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results: Eighty participants responded to the survey. The majority of participants were women, Hispanic/Latino, aged 30-49 years, born in Mexico, had regular access to the internet, lived in  South Omaha, and preferred Spanish as their primary language. The majority of participants agreed that IPV was a problem in the community but were unable to accurately identify what a U-Visa was for and where they could go to apply for one. 

Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that although women felt that IPV was a problem in the community, they had limited knowledge about resources for immigration relief available for undocumented victims of IPV. The results highlight the need for increasing public awareness of immigration services for undocumented IPV survivors in the community. Given the high connectivity to the internet, social-media modes of engagement can be considered that complement community awareness efforts.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe community awareness of immigration services available for undocumented survivors of intimate partner violence. Identify community attitudes toward intimate partner violence in the community. Explain educational opportunity to improve the health of the Latino community.

Keyword(s): Women's Health, Latinos

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Promotion in the College of Public Health (COPH) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. My scientific interests include women’s health, health disparities / health equity, domestic violence and sexual assault and sex trafficking. Over the past five years, I have worked with researchers, community based organizations and state policy makers in addressing domestic violence and sex trafficking among vulnerable communities in Nebraska.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5016.0: Poster: Education for the Health of Latino Communities