With the average, the same formula was applied, meaning that the averages were added and divided by 7, which resulted in 3.55. Therefore, the social sciences students greatly agreed with the premises that concerned domestic violence survivors without a defined migratory status.
Qualitative Results and Analysis
Participant’s Description
A semi-structured interview was conducted utilizing 12 open-ended questions regarding the experiences of professionals working with undocumented survivors of domestic violence. These questions allowed to gain a broad scope about the accessibility of government services and their impact on this population. Two professionals were interviewed and were named Participant 1 (P1) and Participant 2 (P2) to guarantee confidentiality. P1 is identified as a 39-year-old female, who has a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) and is currently a doctoral student. Additionally, she has 15 years of experience working with domestic violence survivors without a defined migratory status and is a service coordinator in a non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides services for domestic violence survivors. P2 is identified as a 63-year-old female who has an MSW and is currently the director of the NGO for 20 years. Regarding the accessibility of services, three quotes were identified and go as follows:
P1: “La ley en sala establece que cualquier persona, sin importar su raza, su género, su estatus migratorio, su posición socioeconómica, si tiene una condición de emergencia de salud, la sala de emergencia tiene la obligación de estabilizar a esa persona, eso es la ley. Sin embargo, cuando vamos a la implementación de la ley, si una persona migrante va y lo primero que le dicen: ¿dónde está tu plan médico? o ¿dónde está el dinero? Porque si no tienes dinero no te podemos atender. ¿En dónde queda ese recurso? Tiene que ser educado. Ese recurso tiene que estar atemperado por la legislación, porque así se siguen violentando los derechos de nuestras mujeres. Y la ley está, pero al momento de implementarla no se ejecuta.”
P1: “Una mujer indocumentada no es elegible para ningún tipo de beneficio público. Entiéndase vivienda, servicios del PAN, servicios de subsidio federal, servicios de plan médico. Ellas no son elegibles para ninguno de esos beneficios que provee el Estado.”
P2: “Prácticamente no tienen derecho a recibir algunas ayudas, aunque también son bien restrictivas con los fondos federales, como lo son los servicios médicos, los cupones de alimentos y estudiar inclusive.”
From these quotes, it is noteworthy that undocumented individuals do not qualify to receive any government-sponsored economic relief, including but not limited to housing, nutritional assistance, and healthcare. Hence, if an undocumented individual is a domestic violence survivor and is economically dependent on their partner or spouse, it is virtually impossible to seek economic support from the government, further straining their abuse situation. Moreover, it is required by law to stabilize a patient's condition regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, age, migratory status, etc., if the situation is emergent. However, lack of knowledge by hospital staff and government officials exacerbates the condition of abuse and complicates the help-seeking of undocumented victims of domestic violence, which can be subjected to physical abuse, and thus are physically harmed. Concerning governmental response, two quotes were selected to answer question number two:
P2: “La situación de feminicidio no ha parado la respuesta del gobierno, pues ha sido un poco tibia precisamente a nivel de recursos que han sido recortadas muchas organizaciones y se ve que hay algunas organizaciones, pero hubo instituciones que no les dieron fondos y algunas que les recortaron hasta más de la mitad como el caso del centro.”
P1: “Yo entiendo que todavía hay mucho, pero mucho trabajo que hacer, porque a veces esto es como un ciclo. Al haber reducciones de fondos en las organizaciones que son las especializadas en brindar servicios de violencia doméstica, perdemos un empleado o una empleada que ha sido adiestrada, que ha sido provista de herramientas para la intervención de la violencia de género y ese empleado lo perdemos.”
From these quotes, it is noticeable that the government helps these organizations. However, these organizations suffer significantly economically and professionally with growing fiscal cuts. Moreover, these cuts prove to be a significant burden because these prepared employees are obligated to leave their workplace, and the organizations are left with a dangerously reduced number of workers, complicating the services undocumented survivors of domestic violence receive.
Relationship between quantitative and qualitative
Questionnaire premise
There is greater economic dependence on the abuser if a survivor of domestic violence is undocumented.
Interview quote
P1: “Muchas de nuestras mujeres, al tener ingresos limitados y sobreviven con $12,000 anuales o menos, y esto pues bajó significativamente con la pandemia.”
As identified in the interview quote, many undocumented women have limited funds which leaves them with less than $12,000 annually. This reduced salary leaves them impoverished and further strains their capacity to leave the relationship because of the economic dependence that such a low salary causes, especially when children are involved. Moreover, when an individual is undocumented, finding a legal job is not feasible, and therefore, they have to resort to what is available, which means that they cannot look for the good-paying jobs citizens have.
Questionnaire premise
The domestic violence situation for undocumented survivors is not the same as for Puerto Rican domestic violence survivors.
Interview quote
P2: “También está el miedo o el temor a las autoridades, el desconocimiento de su derecho y está ese temor de que la puedan deportar, de que la puedan arrestar, de que puedan perder a sus hijos e hijas.”
The fear of deportation is a feeling many, if not all, undocumented survivors of domestic violence face day-to-day. This fear worsens when there is so much disinformation regarding undocumented individuals. Regardless of migratory status, domestic violence is a problem many women endure, but this adds another level of oppression for undocumented women. In many cases, children are involved, which exacerbates the survivor’s situation because they do not only worry about deportation. Moreover, they worry about being arrested or having their children separated from them.
Questionnaire premise
The Puerto Rican judicial system does not treat survivors of domestic violence equally if they are undocumented.
Interview quote
P1: “A veces la legislación está para proteger a la población. Sin embargo, al momento de implementación vemos que hay unos desafíos o hay unos retos, porque vemos que lamentablemente en Puerto Rico podemos identificar que hay mucho racismo y mucha xenofobia internalizada, y muchas veces esa xenofobia y racismo internalizado salen a la luz y lo demuestran lamentablemente en la calidad de servicio que se le tiene que brindar a nuestras mujeres.”
Many survivors seek help through the legal system but confront racism and xenophobia. This obstacle certainly aggravates their domestic violence situation and makes us wonder how fair our justice system is. Law 54 states that a survivor may seek help, regardless of any condition, including being undocumented. However, the quality of services provided to undocumented people is deplorable and only shows how xenophobic and racist the system is. These survivors endure not receiving medical, nutritional, or housing assistance, but feeling like the legal system does not want you proves to show how difficult many of the daily difficulties these women must endure.
Questionnaire premise
The police are not adequately trained to handle a domestic violence situation if the survivor is undocumented.
Interview quote
P1: “A veces tenemos policías que no quieren tomar la querella, que le dicen ve solicita una orden de protección habiendo los elementos para realizar un caso criminal o le dicen tienes que tener cuidado porque tú estás indocumentada y te pueden deportar. O sea que está la mala orientación que recibe esta mujer, entonces no es tan solo que es víctima del agresor, estamos hablando de que esta mujer puede ser víctima del propio sistema que la revictimiza.”
The significant level of disinformation the government has regarding undocumented survivors of domestic violence reinforces that the system does not consider properly training its workforce. Survivors become victims of not only their perpetrators but also of a system that victimizes them and does not provide the tools that are available by law.
Conclusions
The high averages in the premises indicated that most students agreed with the premises related to undocumented survivors’ access to government services and systemic treatment. Therefore, recognizing that most of the sample has not received education regarding domestic violence and immigration is extraordinary. Even though more students agreed with the premises, is still concerning that some students disagreed. The interview responses showed that undocumented domestic violence survivors do not have access to government assistance.
Another critical point gathered from the interview is the xenophobic and racist sentiments undocumented survivors of domestic violence must endure, both socially and systematically. These sentiments are in accordance with what is found in literature since, as established by Intersectional Theory, these populations face stances of inequity, oppression, and discrimination because of their gender, race, and migration status, all inseparable identities that combine to create these discriminations (Crenshaw, 1989, 1991). Moreover, Social Constructionism Theory provides us that many of these sentiments are rooted in societal thought. Therefore, the ways we think, and act are developed in our environment (Gergen et al., 2007).
On the other hand, some similarities were found when combining the data sets. First, the student’s high averages in responses to the questionnaire premises regarding economic dependence and the interview responses are in accordance with the fact that survivors face financial difficulties. Secondly, the questionnaire responses regarding differences in domestic violence situations if the survivor is undocumented displayed a high average and converse with the experiences of professionals that indicated that survivors constantly must deal with the fear of deportation and authority misinformation. Lastly, the responses on the unequal judicial treatment based on migration status were in accordance with the professionals’ experiences mentioned, and the high averages inferred the unequal judicial treatment.
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