Life

Why Abuse Is Underreported In The Latin@ Community

This week advocates for domestic abuse and sexual assault took to the Capitol Hill to announce their findings of such domestic violence and sexual assault within the United States’ Latin@ community. It’s the largest study of its kind and will be used to launch “NO MÁS,” the first national campaign that will ideally put an end to all forms of abuse and assault. The focus is to tackle the most common barriers that stand in the way of Latin@ victims and survivors of abuse from reaching out and getting help.

Commissioned by the Avon Foundation for Women, “The NO MÁS Study: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in the U.S. Latin@ Community,” found that 56 percent of Latin@s in the U.S. know at least one victim or domestic abuse and one in four is a victim themselves. Out of fear of deportation, 41 percent choose to keep their abuse quiet, while 39 percent stay silent out of fear of more abuse or because they’re scared their children will be taken away from them. The majority of those surveyed, at 60 percent, say that they had intervened at one point to protect a victim from further abuse.

According to Juan Carlos Areán, Senior Director of the National Latin@ Network, the study is essential in revealing the truth about abuse and violence in the Latin@ community and the willingness to end these problems. The study also found that most of abuse stemmed from lack of respect for the opposite gender, not due to anything having to do with traditional gender roles.

On a positive note, the study found that members so the Latin@ community were more likely to intervene when it came to abuse, far more open in discussing the topic with their friends (57 percent) and more likely to talk about domestic violence and sexual assault with their children (54 percent), than those in the general U. S. population.

With the willingness to be both vocal about the abuse and the penchant for intervening, Areán has great hope that they can completely eliminate all violence at some point.

NO MÁS will officially launch fall of this year.

Images: Giphy(1)