The Immigrant Women and Hardships in the Legal System due to the Language Barrier
Posted by Jinny Bromberg on November 6, 2009
Violence against women is generally strongly condemned in the American culture; women who are physically abused by their male counterparts are advised to leave and commence a legal process against the abuser. Nevertheless, many women have trouble leaving, and far many of those are even more hesitant to begin with a legal process. And we are only speaking of American women, those born here whose first language is English.
What about women who are here as immigrants, who do not speak English, and to whom it is taboo to even speak to somebody about what happens behind closed doors in fear they may be judged or persecuted in their own community? Since the male (husband/father) is a dominant figure in virtually all immigrant families, he is more versed in the language and is often the one who handles all the ‘business’ outside of family’s doors. To speak out against her abuser to someone outside of her community, she is many times hurdled by her lack of linguistic knowledge. Because of such barriers many immigrant women are unable to give a detailed police report and usually, an interpreter is not present.
What about undocumented immigrant women? Abuse is universal, blind to borders, an infringement on the human right, and it should be stopped regardless of what the immigrant status may read.
Filed Under: Language Issues
