LCDA Linkage Council Meeting
Participants: Jennifer
McLaughlin, Pauline K. Musgrove, Susan Stewart, Nina R. Gonzales, Jesse Chavez,
Teresa Rendon, Nancy Roman, Mario Zamarrón, Madeline Moreno, Bonnie Bella,
Dedric Anderson, Cynthia Tobar, Saleem Ahmad, Rosa
Presentation
1:
Pauline
Musgrove (Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault -
Domestic Violence Specialist).
Introduction:
20 years field experience and survivor of Domestic Violence (DV). Talked about
how we as a community can address the issue of DV.
Handout
#1: Information on DV
Topics
discussed: The underreporting of DV
The importance of providing culturally
appropriate materials for those escaping DV such as hygiene and food needs.
Cultural needs have to be addressed or people wont come to seek help.
Community Awareness - people have to realize
that DV is a crime and punishable by law.
Underreported Crime - it happens to both men
and women, in same sex relations, and across cultures and SES lines.
Discussion
on the Materials in the Handout
·
The
logo of the Coalition is a purple ribbon, purple indicating the color of a
bruise.
·
Poem
in the handout talks about DV.
·
Types
of crimes - definitions of physical and emotional abuse.
·
Myths
and facts about DV.
·
Answers
to some commonly asked questions.
·
Power
and Control Wheel - outlining the forms of abuse.
·
Characteristics
of the batterer.
·
Why
women stay?
·
Effects
of DV on children.
·
How
to help my friends.
·
Responsibilities
in the battered women's movement.
·
What
can one do in the community.
·
Phone
Numbers.
·
Lists
of shelters in the Oklahoma (Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence &
Sexual Assault works with 29 shelters in the state).
Handout
#2: Facts about the Latino community and DV followed by a discussion on why the
women stay in the abusive relationships.
Cynthia:
questions were raised in the last meeting about DV and Latino community. She
asked the community members to pose question to
better define the problem of DV in Latino community.
Comments:
People use immigration status to keep their partners in a violent relationship.
Presentation
2:
Susan
Stewart from YWCA: One does not need to be a legal resident to use a shelter.
The
victims can apply for their own residency if they
are in violent relationships.
Participant: A battered spouse doesn’t have to go through
the abuser to get help but
according to Violence Against Women Act they have to
prove that they are victims. A victim does not need a police report. The victim
can use photographs of the injuries as evidence.
Participant:
What is the time limit for a person to be in a shelter?
Susan
Stewart: It is 30 days, after the person have had 5 days develop life goal of
what
they need to do. If the need persists after 30 days,
the person can remain in the shelter
for another 30 days.
Question:
What about income problems, since the victims may not have a job or food?
Susan
Stewart: We try to do what we can, we can also refer people to charities and
churches.
Question: What are the process and barriers to get
help for Hispanic victims?
Susan
Stewart: Initially, it takes a phone call to the hotline. Last year 2 staff
members
who are fluent in Spanish were hired. Also a victim
is never taken directly to the shelter in fear of being followed. From her home,
the victim is taken to a second location and then to the shelter to maintain
safety where the intake is conducted.
Question:
What happens if the victims comes to the shelter at night?
Susan
Stewart: They can spend the night in the shelter. We want to educate the victim
about what happened to her and help her to build
herself and self-esteem up. After 5 days, they work on goal plan that
identifies their needs and how to accomplish them.
Question:
What if the victim goes to the shelter but her family tells her husband about
it?
Susan
Stewart: That does happen a lot. The challenge is also due to the abuser where
some members of the woman's family such as her aunt
or sister may actually like him and tell him where the victim is.
Question:
Do you offer parenting classes in Spanish?
Susan
Stewart: We may now.
Question:
One of the barriers facing the victim is financial. If a battered women comes
to
the
shelter, would her needs be provided for?
Susan
Stewart: Yes, such things as health care would be provided for.
Question:
For a person working on her plan, is there financial assistance for her since
the
main
provider is no longer there?
Susan
Stewart: We can facilitate meetings with DHS for food stamps.
Question:
What about the person's illegal immigrant status in receiving help from the
DHS.
Susan
Stewart: The person would receive help if her children are legal. It can take
months
for the paper work to go through, and we can help
the victim with the transition type
phases. We offer temporary housing. We have 7 apartments that are fully
furnished where they can stay up to two years. At the same time, they can
receive job training, education, and learn skills to become self-sufficient,
and when they move out, they can take the furnishings in the apartment with
them so they would not have to start from scratch at their new residence.
Comment:
We can provide a transitional center for those who are illegal.
Question:
How many safe places are there in OKC?
Pauline
Musgrove: That information is provided in the handout provided earlier.
Question:
Some of the victims do not know how to drive?
Susan
Stewart: We do provide assistance in learning how to drive as a part of the
goal
plan. We also provide referral to DHS.
Comment:
Based on experience on trying to help the victims of DV, usually if a person
who don’t have a green card or Social Security
Number do not get help. There are people who want to help but are afraid of
legal consequences and I have received this type of response from DHS.
Cynthia:
We need to identify those in DHS and Immigration Agency to pose our
questions
to and obtain their input.
Question:
What about the security of the victims?
Susan
Stewart: The transitional houses have
panic buttons in them, therefore the police
can get to them in 3 minutes but it is still not as
safe as the shelter where the is a gate and security cameras. We are trying to
arrange where the mail for the victims will go to the Attorney General's office
and redirected to them from there so their whereabouts cant be traced. We also
need to educate the clergy to not to bring the woman back to her abusive
husband.
A
discussion of incidents where the clergy made the wife and husband to be
together again.
Pauline
Musgrove: Sometimes the words "through good times and bad" in the
wedding
vows are understood by the woman as going through
the "bad" part of marriage.
Comment:
Ethically, once someone confides to you as a clergy, it should remain
confidential.
Comment:
It is also the culture because some of the men do not know that they are
abusing their partners. They think that the women
love that behavior. When it is explained to them that it is abusive behavior,
they say "I didn’t know that. I did it because I thought she loved it. I
will not do it anymore." However, some women are threatened not to seek
help and the husband is able to keep the wife in the house even when he is not
around. He goes to parties and what not but she cannot leave the house.
Question:
What help do you need from the community?
Pauline
Musgrove: Assistance in providing aftercare, shelter, housing, and food bank.
Susan
Stewart: One thing that can be done is to put fliers in grocery stores and
other
places stating that despite their immigrant status, there is help.
Comment:
We have to look at the victims on case by case basis. Some may have 6
months to go in getting a green card so they put up
with a moderate amount of abuse. In other cases, both the victim and the
perpetrator may be illegal.
Comment:
We need presentation by someone who is knowledgeable on Violence against
Women Act.
Comment:
One can load the parts of Act or the Act itself from the internet.
Comment:
The DHS has a shoe card in Hispanic that can be very helpful for those
seeking
help.
Comment:
What about community activity to raise help funds for the shelter.
Presentation
3:
Jennifer
McLaughlin, Sexual Assault Specialist for Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic
Violence & Sexual Assault.
Provides
handouts on Sexual Assault Statistics.
Jennifer
McLaughlin: One of things we want to do is to get into the school system to do
an early intervention. This is to expose the
children at an early stage to sexual assault prevention education. Also looking
at cultural statistics and working on cultural specific material regarding
sexual assault. It is now that people are realizing that IPV/SV is a crime and
a community issue.
Presentation
4:
Ahmad
Saleem G. Ahmad from the Centro de Evaluación at the University of Oklahoma.
A
brief explanation about the role of the Centro de Evaluación and the LCDA web
page about the IPV/SV project.
Handouts
on Web Page.
A
suggestion that arose from the presentation was to add a link where other
individuals can provide information to be posted about services offered in
Oklahoma.
The
meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm.