Rosa* is an undocumented immigrant woman who is in an abusive marriage; her husband is a U.S. citizen who refuses to sponsor her for citizenship.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides pathways for immigrant victims of domestic violence - like Rosa - to stabilize their immigration statuses independent of their abusers, such as the VAWA self-petition and the U visa.
WIT’s Community Education Coordinator Zoe Nesin recently trained 50 Department of Human Services (DHS) workers on the dynamics of domestic violence, substance abuse among women, and the linkages between them. DHS workers often encounter domestic violence and substance in their line of work, and it is important that they understand how each functions (both domestic violence and substance abuse are influenced by childhood trauma and intergenerational cycles of violence), how they reinforce each other, and how to use harm reduction and provide trauma-informed, empowering support to clients.
Last spring, I received a call from a teacher at a local elementary school - her fifth grade class wanted to learn about domestic violence. Would I be willing to come in and talk to them in my role as WIT's Prevention Director? I enthusiastically agreed, but as I hung up the phone, I wondered, How do you talk to 10-year-old children about violence and abuse?