All women get beat; black women get beat more

Candle light vigil held in Natchitoches for victims of domestic violence

Carol Forsloff - The problem of domestic violence against women is something considered a challenge by women of all races, because all women get beat; black women get beat more.

Domestic violence is a problem within every socio-economic group.  It is also an international problem.  The rich woman of the suburbs can be battered just like the housewife with five kids and a drunk husband.  But nowhere is the problem more acute, lasting and particularly devastating than among minority women.

Why is that?  One reason is because they are more economically vulnerable.  At a time when women seem to have finally come into their own, there are still great numbers of women who find it difficult to take care of themselves economically, particularly when impacted from emotional and/or physical abuse and the consequences of it that can be lasting.

Research substantiates the high percentage of low income women who are victims of intimate partner violence (IVP).  In spite of certain preconceived

notions about the 16 year old welfare mother who refuses to work and get off

the dole, the facts are that welfare doesn’t create violence.  In fact it is the violence that forces women

to the lowest economic levels along with creating health conditions that may

affect them for life. 

Minority women, in fact, are at high risk for serious health problems; and these health problems

consequently affect their ability to work and care for themselves.   Poor health ratings are far greater among African American battered women than for non-Hispanic white women or that of

the general female population; post traumatic stress disorder is considerably

higher.  

African American women’s experience with the overall community, to include early feelings of rejection, form a foundation for more serious emotional problems to occur consequent to intimate partner violence.

Few investigations have focused specifically on how violence impacts women of color.   It has been found that battered women of African American ancestry have less social support systems because they often don’t have the economic resources or don’t earn as much as their white peers.  They are less able to access resources for a variety of reasons including concerns about being stigmatized by the community,the idea that violence in the home is a private matter, or that they feel uncomfortable discussing intimate problems especially with counselors who may be of a different economic or racial group.So they lack the available resources to become independent at the same level as non-Hispanic women.

Battered women are particularly vulnerable socially and economically and less able to become employed and independent, means the problems of poverty that include drugs and prostitution fall harder on them.  As more punitive laws have been enacted with reference to sex-based crimes and drugs, battered women of color end up in prison in greater numbers than the general population of women.

 In 1997, African American women had an incarceration rate of 200 per 100,000 compared to 25 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic white women.  Furthermore many of these women have children who also lack resources of family and friends and themselves may become victims of poverty and violence.  

Sentencing and longer sentences for women of color have been especially devastating.  Furthermore relying on police protection is more problematic in the African American community where

police apathy and indifference are more prevalent than in the non-Hispanic white community.

Director Melody Minturn, who headed up a program in Natchitoches, Louisiana concerned with domestic violence some years ago,  stated, during an interview about the problem of abused women, that “not all battered women have children, and not all children whose mothers are

battered get battered, abused, or neglected themselves.  The complexities of family violence must be

addressed through policies that are target specific to the female population because the majority of partner violence actually pertains to women.”

Problems of self worth and being able to move forward towards independent, responsible and

fulfilling lives affect women, both white or black. The blows of abuse can be devastating, as the facts

demonstrate but the recognition of the special target of black, battered women and what they need to

survive is of consequence to the black community and the white community of  men and women who care, as well as those black men sensitive to the problems.