After my college graduation, I got married with a Vietnamese American and immigrated to United States in 2006. Instead of going through culture shock of the western difference, I went through a tremendous terror experience of domestic violence. After years of recovery, I want to seek out the profound answers for the causes of my suffering to help raising the awareness of domestic violence. In this paper, I will do a research about domestic violence in Vietnamese American community, specific in Vietnamese women who are abused by their spouses. This research will conduct the causes of violence, Vietnamese women experiences sharing and open to some helpful resources and community support for battered victims.
Domestic violence is the term to define a pattern of abusive behaviors in relationship of one partner to gain, maintain and control the power against the other one. Domestic violence can be physical, emotional, economical, psychological manipulation and sexual. Some abusive behaviors that typically happened to Vietnamese American immigrants might be manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, manipulate, threaten, blame, hurt or injure women physically.
These types of abusive behaviors usually happen in variety of forms, and Vietnamese American immigrants exposed to more chances of becoming a victims. Dinh Khanh Thi explained:
“The family is the centerpiece of Vietnamese culture. The traditional Vietnamese family follows the extended multigenerational pattern, which commonly includes the father and mother, the father’s parents, sons, the sons’ wives and children, and any unmarried daughters. Other extended-family members who share the same family name or ancestors are also an important part of family life. The structure of the traditional family is patriarchal and patrilineal, such that age and sex determine one’s role and authority within the family. The Vietnamese have an extensive language system of addressing one another according to their status, both within and outside the family. Individual behavior is much more driven by familialism than by the generic notion of collectivism. Within the traditional Vietnamese family, more emphasis is placed on family roles and obligations than on individual needs and desires. Individuals’ social and public behaviors, positive or negative, reflect on the whole family. The concept loss of face refers to shame and embarrassment brought not only to the individual, but also to the family. Therefore, family members must do everything possible to preserve the family’s face, or reputation”
Vietnamese American immigrants often carry this burden of traditional family structure which raises lot of conflict in their life style. The patriarchy set role for the men and women in the Vietnamese family. For example, the man is the head of the family, and they make all the decisions as well as having the power in the house, while the woman are in completely opposite position. Vietnamese women are expected to be listened and not talking back. They have to behave submissively and shouldn’t raise their voice. Women have to take care of the household, do all the chores, bear the responsibilities for the kids, family relation and related. The men of the house might work or not working, but still have all the privilege of being the head of the household. These men usually shall not touch a finger tip to any chores. This patriarchy is a lot stricter on older Vietnamese generation.
These expectations deeply hurt Vietnamese American immigrant. In my case, when I got married and came to America, I lived with my in laws. They expected exactly what I had mentioned above in the patriarchy family structure. I had to wake up early, prepared breakfast, do all the chores, and obey. I did it with all my heart. Even though it was difficult since I grew up in an opened and modern city where all these rules were a lot loosen to the daughter. But violence still happened such as my ex husband slapped me on the face and pushed my head down in front of his brother. When he complained that the foods I cooked was so plain, no taste, and I explained for him that we came from different parts of Vietnam which makes the food preparation were different and asked if he cooked better, why he never cooked for me once. I wasn’t expected to talk back. It was considered rude, so I deserved being beaten according to him. The ridiculous things like that happened every day. They scolded, smothered, called me by name, gathered around the table and all criticize me, and I had no voice. I couldn’t talk back.
Bui Hoan Nguyen stated:
“Women contrasted their life in Vietnam with life in the U.S. In Vietnam women recalled that their role is to suffer silently, assume all the blame for problems, and endure. Yet, when comparing life in the U.S. to life in Vietnam, their general feelings of isolation and difficulties adjusting to a new cultural setting merge with their responses to abuse. Women recalled that in Vietnam they could at least talk to their neighbors and friends if they were being abused, while in the U.S. they have no one to talk to, because of their isolation. This suggests that while the common cultural expectation is that of silent endurance, in Vietnam women were not necessarily without informal means of support. Both possibilities co-existed. Women were expected to silently suffer and endure, but in Vietnam, at least they had neighbors and friends with whom they could informally and privately talk.” (p139-140)
This is exactly how the silence was kept. I kept suffering without telling anyone about it. I had no friends or relative in United State. I couldn’t bear to share the hardship with my family, since I wanted to be a good girl. I didn’t want to worry my parents. Yet, I couldn’t divorce since it would be a shame for my family back in Vietnam as Khanh Thi had mentioned earlier. And the isolation was built up. And as Bui Hoan said, the domestic violence that happens here in America to Vietnamese immigrant is a lot server than in Vietnam, due to the silent endurance that the women have to bear.
Bui Hoan N added,
“However, shame and fear of the abuser prevented many women from disclosing their experiences of intimate violence. As one woman explained, “I didn’t talk about my family problem with other people. He didn’t like this. If he learned about it, we would have more problems. I was also afraid that people would criticize my family.” (p11)
And in some case, women couldn’t talk since they were scared of the husband, or the shame that might be to the family. In domestic violence case, once the violence physically happened, there is always a pattern of it. It never happened once, despite the fact that the abusers might apologize or promise not to let it happen the text time. Plus, if these women might able to talk, there was barely any solution for the issue. Bui Hoan Nguyen wrote:
“More often than not, however, women who talked with friends and relatives did not receive helpful responses. Although friends and relatives might feel sympathetic toward victims of intimate abuse, they did not want to intervene because they viewed domestic violence as a private matter. Some even advised the victim to accept the abuse or try not to make her husband or partner angry, as illustrated in the two following cases:
I talked with my [Vietnamese] priest and my [Vietnamese] neighbors. My priest advised me to give him (her husband) time to change. My neighbors showed their sympathy, but when I asked whether I should call the police would he abuse me again, they just kept silent. I think no one wanted to intervene in other people’s [family] business. My mother and my siblings told me they couldn’t do anything about it (the abuse) because I was a married woman. My mother advised me not to make my husband angry, not to upset him.” (p 12)
People tend to think the domestic violence is a family primate matter, and usually they don’t want to be involved. Especially in Vietnamese community where for thousand years, these type of mistreat happened to women every day. Look at this video, where not just in the minority community, but in a bigger scene,
Domestic violence is the term to define a pattern of abusive behaviors in relationship of one partner to gain, maintain and control the power against the other one. Domestic violence can be physical, emotional, economical, psychological manipulation and sexual. Some abusive behaviors that typically happened to Vietnamese American immigrants might be manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, manipulate, threaten, blame, hurt or injure women physically.
These types of abusive behaviors usually happen in variety of forms, and Vietnamese American immigrants exposed to more chances of becoming a victims. Dinh Khanh Thi explained:
“The family is the centerpiece of Vietnamese culture. The traditional Vietnamese family follows the extended multigenerational pattern, which commonly includes the father and mother, the father’s parents, sons, the sons’ wives and children, and any unmarried daughters. Other extended-family members who share the same family name or ancestors are also an important part of family life. The structure of the traditional family is patriarchal and patrilineal, such that age and sex determine one’s role and authority within the family. The Vietnamese have an extensive language system of addressing one another according to their status, both within and outside the family. Individual behavior is much more driven by familialism than by the generic notion of collectivism. Within the traditional Vietnamese family, more emphasis is placed on family roles and obligations than on individual needs and desires. Individuals’ social and public behaviors, positive or negative, reflect on the whole family. The concept loss of face refers to shame and embarrassment brought not only to the individual, but also to the family. Therefore, family members must do everything possible to preserve the family’s face, or reputation”
Vietnamese American immigrants often carry this burden of traditional family structure which raises lot of conflict in their life style. The patriarchy set role for the men and women in the Vietnamese family. For example, the man is the head of the family, and they make all the decisions as well as having the power in the house, while the woman are in completely opposite position. Vietnamese women are expected to be listened and not talking back. They have to behave submissively and shouldn’t raise their voice. Women have to take care of the household, do all the chores, bear the responsibilities for the kids, family relation and related. The men of the house might work or not working, but still have all the privilege of being the head of the household. These men usually shall not touch a finger tip to any chores. This patriarchy is a lot stricter on older Vietnamese generation.
These expectations deeply hurt Vietnamese American immigrant. In my case, when I got married and came to America, I lived with my in laws. They expected exactly what I had mentioned above in the patriarchy family structure. I had to wake up early, prepared breakfast, do all the chores, and obey. I did it with all my heart. Even though it was difficult since I grew up in an opened and modern city where all these rules were a lot loosen to the daughter. But violence still happened such as my ex husband slapped me on the face and pushed my head down in front of his brother. When he complained that the foods I cooked was so plain, no taste, and I explained for him that we came from different parts of Vietnam which makes the food preparation were different and asked if he cooked better, why he never cooked for me once. I wasn’t expected to talk back. It was considered rude, so I deserved being beaten according to him. The ridiculous things like that happened every day. They scolded, smothered, called me by name, gathered around the table and all criticize me, and I had no voice. I couldn’t talk back.
Bui Hoan Nguyen stated:
“Women contrasted their life in Vietnam with life in the U.S. In Vietnam women recalled that their role is to suffer silently, assume all the blame for problems, and endure. Yet, when comparing life in the U.S. to life in Vietnam, their general feelings of isolation and difficulties adjusting to a new cultural setting merge with their responses to abuse. Women recalled that in Vietnam they could at least talk to their neighbors and friends if they were being abused, while in the U.S. they have no one to talk to, because of their isolation. This suggests that while the common cultural expectation is that of silent endurance, in Vietnam women were not necessarily without informal means of support. Both possibilities co-existed. Women were expected to silently suffer and endure, but in Vietnam, at least they had neighbors and friends with whom they could informally and privately talk.” (p139-140)
This is exactly how the silence was kept. I kept suffering without telling anyone about it. I had no friends or relative in United State. I couldn’t bear to share the hardship with my family, since I wanted to be a good girl. I didn’t want to worry my parents. Yet, I couldn’t divorce since it would be a shame for my family back in Vietnam as Khanh Thi had mentioned earlier. And the isolation was built up. And as Bui Hoan said, the domestic violence that happens here in America to Vietnamese immigrant is a lot server than in Vietnam, due to the silent endurance that the women have to bear.
Bui Hoan N added,
“However, shame and fear of the abuser prevented many women from disclosing their experiences of intimate violence. As one woman explained, “I didn’t talk about my family problem with other people. He didn’t like this. If he learned about it, we would have more problems. I was also afraid that people would criticize my family.” (p11)
And in some case, women couldn’t talk since they were scared of the husband, or the shame that might be to the family. In domestic violence case, once the violence physically happened, there is always a pattern of it. It never happened once, despite the fact that the abusers might apologize or promise not to let it happen the text time. Plus, if these women might able to talk, there was barely any solution for the issue. Bui Hoan Nguyen wrote:
“More often than not, however, women who talked with friends and relatives did not receive helpful responses. Although friends and relatives might feel sympathetic toward victims of intimate abuse, they did not want to intervene because they viewed domestic violence as a private matter. Some even advised the victim to accept the abuse or try not to make her husband or partner angry, as illustrated in the two following cases:
I talked with my [Vietnamese] priest and my [Vietnamese] neighbors. My priest advised me to give him (her husband) time to change. My neighbors showed their sympathy, but when I asked whether I should call the police would he abuse me again, they just kept silent. I think no one wanted to intervene in other people’s [family] business. My mother and my siblings told me they couldn’t do anything about it (the abuse) because I was a married woman. My mother advised me not to make my husband angry, not to upset him.” (p 12)
People tend to think the domestic violence is a family primate matter, and usually they don’t want to be involved. Especially in Vietnamese community where for thousand years, these type of mistreat happened to women every day. Look at this video, where not just in the minority community, but in a bigger scene,
It is sad but true, that these domestic violence continuous to happen without any prevention. Be aware that domestic violence can happen to either men or women. And either way, the victims are always the silent ones. To Vietnamese immigrant women, it is easier to happen, since the men in this case have the absolute power over the women who are new to everything in a country and had no protection for themselves.
When the police sent me to the domestic violence shelter after a serious incident, I had met numbers of women like me. Some of them are Vietnamese immigrants. An example is the story of L. N who fled to the shelter with her 6 months old baby. L. N is an only child in her family. After she graduated from 3 years college, she got married with the son of her parent’s friend and came to United States. She lived together with his whole family in a small house. L. N cried when shared that she only allowed showering once a week since their family tried to save water. But it wasn’t all. Their family made her working at nail salon and took all the income from her. During the critical economic in 2008, after giving birth to her baby only few months, she was asked to go to another state to do nail in one of her husband relative salon to earn fast cash. She was too desperate thinking of the separation with her few months old daughter. L. N got help from a friend she knew at the nail salon and fled to shelter.
Domestic violence might happen in so many forms. So sometimes, it is not easy to recognize and battle it. Another example is T. N ‘s situation. She married to a man who was obsessive with her. He provided her and their daughter a beautiful house, a share bonds in his company and an account with money in the bank. However, he was extremely jealous. He prevented her from going anywhere. He would take her to supermarket to buy foods. He has to present anywhere she is. He controlled her by not doing paper work for her green card as schedule and hiding all her paperwork such as passport and other important papers. She was isolate and lonely. She was finally able to escape with the help from an English teacher at her ESL class.
These two examples above are those who successfully left her husband. Yet, there are many Vietnamese women out there who were unable to leave or report to the police. Even though, there was law to protect women in United State. But not many Vietnamese women reported an abusive behavior from her husband. Reason might be vary. Women might be financial dependent on her husband, or afraid of police putting her husband to jail. Some might be in love and afraid of her husband would leave her. Other might be afraid the broken family would hurt the children. In, “Violence against Women (2013)” Bui Hoan N quoted:
“I didn’t report because I was afraid that he would divorce me and wouldn’t help me with the paperwork to get a green card . . . He had told me that if he was arrested and jailed, I would be deported back to Vietnam and would lose my son.” (p20)
And “As immigrants, many women were also aware of racial discrimination in American society. Some did not report abuse to the police because they thought that the police did not want to help minority women. Other women feared that their husbands or partners would receive unfairly harsh treatment because of racial discrimination by police. As these women explained,
I don’t think that the police want to help minorities. I have experienced. they looked down on me because I couldn’t speak English well. I learned that American police often discriminate against minorities. He (her husband) had spent many years in reeducation camps and had been treated harshly under the communist regime in Vietnam, so I don’t want him to have a hard time in the United States.” (p21)
In fact, there are more reasons than that. It wasn’t just the immigrant status, but also the language barrier or thousands of reasons that worry the women. In some case, women are serious physically hurt and be threatened by her husband. Being threatened to deport, take away the baby, being killed, or getting killed are some of worries that deeply affect women in this battle. Bui Hoan shared:
“Although both absolute dependency and relative dependency were barriers to women’s efforts to seek help, absolute dependency appeared to have stronger effects. Women who totally depended on their husbands or partners for financial support often called the police after experiencing abuse for a long time or when abuse escalated and caused them to fear for their lives; some, though, never reported the abuse. On the other hand, women who had high levels of education and income were more likely than others to seek help quickly, often after being abused for a short period of time. Cultural isolation was also an impediment to Vietnamese American women’s attempts to reach out for help. Lack of English proficiency not only prevented these women from understanding the law but also caused difficulties when they tried to communicate with helping agencies. Most women did not have opportunities to study English after coming to the United States because they had to work to support their families and to help other relatives in their home country or because they had to stay home to take care of small children and do housework. A few women had not gone to school in Vietnam and therefore lacked the minimum education in their native language required for studying English.” (p19)
Lack of English not just prevent Vietnamese women to get help and communicated to social worker, agencies, but also prevent them from having knowledge. Many women who came into shelters might end up coming back to the husband due to the fact that they dont understand the system and give up on finding their independence. Plus, language barrier might be a big prevention to their job hunt which also lead the way back to the abusers.
And over all, Vietnamese women immigrant usually try to save the marriage. Kristen Seturia wrote,
”…[T]he Vietnamese women try to tolerate these abuses in order to save the marriage and family. Our Vietnamese culture tries to save the marriage. We seldom think of divorce. We try to change ourselves, our husbands, to protect the family. If all else fails, then divorce is the last alternative.”(p147)
So despite the fact that they might get their freedom, they would think about the family and the kids and unable to leave the situation. For many women who was raised in the traditional culture, family and kids are very important to them.
In this paper length, I wont be able to explained all the aspects of domestic violence against Vietnamese women immigrants. But I expect to send out a message of awareness out there. Hopefully, it would be helpful to many women out there who are trying to understand domestic violence and be able to seek for help.
If you or anyone you know are having trouble with domestic violence, please use this referral service from LAPD at http://www.lapdonline.org/get_informed/content_basic_view/23671
Or contact local Department of Social Service at this address http://www.ladpss.org/dpss/sss/dv.cfm
Social Service will help with fast emergency cash, long term plan support such as CAISHAID, GAINS, FOODSTAMP, CHILDCARE, HEALTHCARE. They also refer to many other services to help battered women and children becoming independent.
Moreover, Legal Aid Foundation LA at http://www.lafla.org/contact.php can be very helpful for the divorce, child custody and immigrant status. They offer free service for domestic violence women.
By Thanh Hai Do
Work Cited
Bui, Hoan N. "Help-Seeking Behavior Among Abused Immigrant Women: A Case of Vietnamese American Women." Violence Against Women (2003): 207-39. Print
"Dinh, Khanh T. "Vietnamese Americans." Encyclopedia of Multicultural Psychology. Ed. Yo Jackson. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2006. 463-70. SAGE knowledge. Web. 1 Apr. 2015
Kirsten, Senturia. Cultural Issues Affecting Domestic Violence Service Utilization in Ethnic and Hard to Reach Populations, Final Report. Public Health - Seattle & King County. Print.
Domestic Violence: Emergency Referral Services and Hotlines
Los Angeles County
Domestic Violence Hotline
800-978-3600
Info-Lines
Los Angeles: 213-686-0950
San Fernando Valley: 818-501-4447
TDD: 800-660-4026
Southern California Coalition on Battered Women
213-655-6098
L.A. Rape and Battering Hotline, LACAAW
Spanish and TDD
213-626-3393
310-392-8381
Project Sister
909-626-4357
Rosa Parks Sexual Assault Crisis Center
213-295-4673 (Spanish speakers available)
Central & West L.A.
Center for Pacific Asian Family
800-339-3940
213-653-4042
Dominguez Family Shelter
310-764-4022
Chicana Services
310-392-9896
Sojourn
310-264-6644
Good Shepard Shelter
213-737-6111
South Central
1736 Family Crisis Center
213-745-6434
310-379-3620
Jenesse Center
213-731-6500
Peace & Joy Care Center
310-898-3117
Carson Shelter
310-549-1375
Compton YWCA Rape Hotline
310-764-1403
San Fernando Valley
Haven Hills
818-887-6589
Tamar House
818-505-0900
Valley Trauma Center Rape Crisis Center
818-886-0453
San Gabriel Valley & East Los Angeles
Angel Step Inn
562-906-5060
East LA Shelter
213-268-7564 (Spanish speakers available)
Glendale YWCA
818-242-1106
Haven House
213-681-2626 (Spanish speakers available)
Women & Children Crisis Center
562-945-3939
YWCA-Wings (San Gabriel)
626-967-0658
Advance/East L.A. Rape Hotline
800-585-6231
National
National Domestic Violence Hotline
800-799-7233
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
800-537-2238
Family Violence Prevention Fund
415-252-8900
Orange County
Interval House (Seal Beach)
714-891-8121
TDD: 213-594-4555
WTLC
714-992-1931
Riverside /San Bernardino/Redlands/Barstow/Big Bear/Victorville
Alternative to Domestic Violence (Riverside)
To be determined
Bethlehem House (San Bernardino/Redlands)
714-862-8027 (Spanish speakers available)
Desert Sanctuary/Haley House (Barstow)
619-252-3441
Doves(Big Bear)
714-866-5723
High Desert Domestic Violence(Victorville)
619-242-9179
Morongo Basin Unity Home (29 Palms)
619-366-9663
Antelope Valley, Palmdale & Santa Clarita
Assistance to Aid Victims of Domestic Violence
805-259-4357
Valley Oasis
805-945-6736
Oshun
805-727-1299
South Bay
Jenesse Center
213-775-6836
1736 Family Crisis Center
310-379-3620
Rainbow Services
310-547-9343
Su Casa
562-402-4888
Women Shelter (Long Beach)
562-437-4663
Laguna Human Options
714-494-5367
Pomona
House of Ruth
909-988-5559
Option House (Colton)
714-381-3471
Ventura County
Interface (Newbury Park)
805-496-1994 (Spanish speakers available)
When the police sent me to the domestic violence shelter after a serious incident, I had met numbers of women like me. Some of them are Vietnamese immigrants. An example is the story of L. N who fled to the shelter with her 6 months old baby. L. N is an only child in her family. After she graduated from 3 years college, she got married with the son of her parent’s friend and came to United States. She lived together with his whole family in a small house. L. N cried when shared that she only allowed showering once a week since their family tried to save water. But it wasn’t all. Their family made her working at nail salon and took all the income from her. During the critical economic in 2008, after giving birth to her baby only few months, she was asked to go to another state to do nail in one of her husband relative salon to earn fast cash. She was too desperate thinking of the separation with her few months old daughter. L. N got help from a friend she knew at the nail salon and fled to shelter.
Domestic violence might happen in so many forms. So sometimes, it is not easy to recognize and battle it. Another example is T. N ‘s situation. She married to a man who was obsessive with her. He provided her and their daughter a beautiful house, a share bonds in his company and an account with money in the bank. However, he was extremely jealous. He prevented her from going anywhere. He would take her to supermarket to buy foods. He has to present anywhere she is. He controlled her by not doing paper work for her green card as schedule and hiding all her paperwork such as passport and other important papers. She was isolate and lonely. She was finally able to escape with the help from an English teacher at her ESL class.
These two examples above are those who successfully left her husband. Yet, there are many Vietnamese women out there who were unable to leave or report to the police. Even though, there was law to protect women in United State. But not many Vietnamese women reported an abusive behavior from her husband. Reason might be vary. Women might be financial dependent on her husband, or afraid of police putting her husband to jail. Some might be in love and afraid of her husband would leave her. Other might be afraid the broken family would hurt the children. In, “Violence against Women (2013)” Bui Hoan N quoted:
“I didn’t report because I was afraid that he would divorce me and wouldn’t help me with the paperwork to get a green card . . . He had told me that if he was arrested and jailed, I would be deported back to Vietnam and would lose my son.” (p20)
And “As immigrants, many women were also aware of racial discrimination in American society. Some did not report abuse to the police because they thought that the police did not want to help minority women. Other women feared that their husbands or partners would receive unfairly harsh treatment because of racial discrimination by police. As these women explained,
I don’t think that the police want to help minorities. I have experienced. they looked down on me because I couldn’t speak English well. I learned that American police often discriminate against minorities. He (her husband) had spent many years in reeducation camps and had been treated harshly under the communist regime in Vietnam, so I don’t want him to have a hard time in the United States.” (p21)
In fact, there are more reasons than that. It wasn’t just the immigrant status, but also the language barrier or thousands of reasons that worry the women. In some case, women are serious physically hurt and be threatened by her husband. Being threatened to deport, take away the baby, being killed, or getting killed are some of worries that deeply affect women in this battle. Bui Hoan shared:
“Although both absolute dependency and relative dependency were barriers to women’s efforts to seek help, absolute dependency appeared to have stronger effects. Women who totally depended on their husbands or partners for financial support often called the police after experiencing abuse for a long time or when abuse escalated and caused them to fear for their lives; some, though, never reported the abuse. On the other hand, women who had high levels of education and income were more likely than others to seek help quickly, often after being abused for a short period of time. Cultural isolation was also an impediment to Vietnamese American women’s attempts to reach out for help. Lack of English proficiency not only prevented these women from understanding the law but also caused difficulties when they tried to communicate with helping agencies. Most women did not have opportunities to study English after coming to the United States because they had to work to support their families and to help other relatives in their home country or because they had to stay home to take care of small children and do housework. A few women had not gone to school in Vietnam and therefore lacked the minimum education in their native language required for studying English.” (p19)
Lack of English not just prevent Vietnamese women to get help and communicated to social worker, agencies, but also prevent them from having knowledge. Many women who came into shelters might end up coming back to the husband due to the fact that they dont understand the system and give up on finding their independence. Plus, language barrier might be a big prevention to their job hunt which also lead the way back to the abusers.
And over all, Vietnamese women immigrant usually try to save the marriage. Kristen Seturia wrote,
”…[T]he Vietnamese women try to tolerate these abuses in order to save the marriage and family. Our Vietnamese culture tries to save the marriage. We seldom think of divorce. We try to change ourselves, our husbands, to protect the family. If all else fails, then divorce is the last alternative.”(p147)
So despite the fact that they might get their freedom, they would think about the family and the kids and unable to leave the situation. For many women who was raised in the traditional culture, family and kids are very important to them.
In this paper length, I wont be able to explained all the aspects of domestic violence against Vietnamese women immigrants. But I expect to send out a message of awareness out there. Hopefully, it would be helpful to many women out there who are trying to understand domestic violence and be able to seek for help.
If you or anyone you know are having trouble with domestic violence, please use this referral service from LAPD at http://www.lapdonline.org/get_informed/content_basic_view/23671
Or contact local Department of Social Service at this address http://www.ladpss.org/dpss/sss/dv.cfm
Social Service will help with fast emergency cash, long term plan support such as CAISHAID, GAINS, FOODSTAMP, CHILDCARE, HEALTHCARE. They also refer to many other services to help battered women and children becoming independent.
Moreover, Legal Aid Foundation LA at http://www.lafla.org/contact.php can be very helpful for the divorce, child custody and immigrant status. They offer free service for domestic violence women.
By Thanh Hai Do
Work Cited
Bui, Hoan N. "Help-Seeking Behavior Among Abused Immigrant Women: A Case of Vietnamese American Women." Violence Against Women (2003): 207-39. Print
"Dinh, Khanh T. "Vietnamese Americans." Encyclopedia of Multicultural Psychology. Ed. Yo Jackson. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2006. 463-70. SAGE knowledge. Web. 1 Apr. 2015
Kirsten, Senturia. Cultural Issues Affecting Domestic Violence Service Utilization in Ethnic and Hard to Reach Populations, Final Report. Public Health - Seattle & King County. Print.
Domestic Violence: Emergency Referral Services and Hotlines
Los Angeles County
Domestic Violence Hotline
800-978-3600
Info-Lines
Los Angeles: 213-686-0950
San Fernando Valley: 818-501-4447
TDD: 800-660-4026
Southern California Coalition on Battered Women
213-655-6098
L.A. Rape and Battering Hotline, LACAAW
Spanish and TDD
213-626-3393
310-392-8381
Project Sister
909-626-4357
Rosa Parks Sexual Assault Crisis Center
213-295-4673 (Spanish speakers available)
Central & West L.A.
Center for Pacific Asian Family
800-339-3940
213-653-4042
Dominguez Family Shelter
310-764-4022
Chicana Services
310-392-9896
Sojourn
310-264-6644
Good Shepard Shelter
213-737-6111
South Central
1736 Family Crisis Center
213-745-6434
310-379-3620
Jenesse Center
213-731-6500
Peace & Joy Care Center
310-898-3117
Carson Shelter
310-549-1375
Compton YWCA Rape Hotline
310-764-1403
San Fernando Valley
Haven Hills
818-887-6589
Tamar House
818-505-0900
Valley Trauma Center Rape Crisis Center
818-886-0453
San Gabriel Valley & East Los Angeles
Angel Step Inn
562-906-5060
East LA Shelter
213-268-7564 (Spanish speakers available)
Glendale YWCA
818-242-1106
Haven House
213-681-2626 (Spanish speakers available)
Women & Children Crisis Center
562-945-3939
YWCA-Wings (San Gabriel)
626-967-0658
Advance/East L.A. Rape Hotline
800-585-6231
National
National Domestic Violence Hotline
800-799-7233
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
800-537-2238
Family Violence Prevention Fund
415-252-8900
Orange County
Interval House (Seal Beach)
714-891-8121
TDD: 213-594-4555
WTLC
714-992-1931
Riverside /San Bernardino/Redlands/Barstow/Big Bear/Victorville
Alternative to Domestic Violence (Riverside)
To be determined
Bethlehem House (San Bernardino/Redlands)
714-862-8027 (Spanish speakers available)
Desert Sanctuary/Haley House (Barstow)
619-252-3441
Doves(Big Bear)
714-866-5723
High Desert Domestic Violence(Victorville)
619-242-9179
Morongo Basin Unity Home (29 Palms)
619-366-9663
Antelope Valley, Palmdale & Santa Clarita
Assistance to Aid Victims of Domestic Violence
805-259-4357
Valley Oasis
805-945-6736
Oshun
805-727-1299
South Bay
Jenesse Center
213-775-6836
1736 Family Crisis Center
310-379-3620
Rainbow Services
310-547-9343
Su Casa
562-402-4888
Women Shelter (Long Beach)
562-437-4663
Laguna Human Options
714-494-5367
Pomona
House of Ruth
909-988-5559
Option House (Colton)
714-381-3471
Ventura County
Interface (Newbury Park)
805-496-1994 (Spanish speakers available)