By: Julie Williams | Intern

March is Women's History Month, a time to honor the extraordinary contributions that women and girls have made to our country and the world. Immigrant women have played an especially important role in transforming our world socially, politically, and economically - from Dolores Huerta leading one of the most influential labor movements of the 20th century to modern-day activists like Representative Ilhan Omar fighting for immigrant rights in Congress. There are approximately 23 million immigrant women and girls in the United States - over half of the foreign-born population - who strengthen our communities everyday as students, workers, and mothers.

While we celebrate the achievements of women this month, we are reminded of the issues that women still face in society - sexism, access to equal opportunity, exploitation of labor, pay disparities, maternal morality, harassment, and sexual violence. Immigrant women often experience these issues disproportionately and face unique and exacerbated challenges that non-immigrant women do not.

Fear prevents immigrant women from reporting abuse

According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, domestic care workers, hotel, workers, agricultural workers, and other service industry workers face high rates of sexual harassment and assault due to the often isolated environments they work in. Nearly half of working immigrant women are employed in these industries, according to a 2015 study by the American Immigration Council. Immigrant women may not report these incidents out of fear that their employer will revoke their work visas or report them to the police or ICE.

Noncitizen women experiencing domestic violence also face a unique burden as their abuser can use their immigration status against them. Abusers may withhold or destroy important legal documents that victims need, take advantage of the victim’s language barriers and purposely provide false information, threaten to separate the victim from her children, or withhold access to money from the victim if they are unable to generate an income due to immigration status.

Even if her legal status does not depend on her abusive spouse, a noncitizen woman may avoid reporting abuse to the police for fear that they will be deported and separated from their family. 

VAWA protects women experiencing abuse

One of the ways that immigrant women experiencing abuse can receive protection is through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Originally passed in 1994, VAWA contained provisions to allow noncitizen victims of domestic violence to protection independent of their abusive spouse through a process called “self-petitioning”. President Obama signed an expansion of protections for undocumented immigrants under VAWA in 2013.

A noncitizen victim may be eligible for lawful permanent resident status if she can demonstrate that she is a victim of battery or “extreme cruelty” perpetuated by a U.S. citizen spouse, former spouse, parent, or child, or a lawful permanent resident spouse, former spouse, or parent. Additional protections under VAWA include prohibiting ICE officers from making arrests at domestic violence shelters and courthouses and permitting victims of domestic abuse to receive shelter and obtain restraining orders regardless of their immigration status.

Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors can help

At Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, we help immigrants receive the rights and protections that they deserve and help immigrant women facing abuse and violence receive VAWA protection. If you or someone you know are undocumented and experiencing domestic violence, you can call our office at (615) 538-7481.

 Other organizations that serve undocumented victims of domestic violence:

• Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands - (615) 244-6610

• Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence - (615) 386-9406

• YWCA - (615) 269-9922