Lifetime Prevalence of Violence Against Latina Immigrants: Legal and Policy Implications [pdf]

This article examines the prevalence of various forms of domestic violence experienced by Latina immigrant women, the nature of the battering and extreme cruelty they experience, and public policy implications of the findings. The this research found high levels of intimate partner abuse experienced by immigrant Latinas and publishes data about immigrant victims in married to citizens and lawful permanent residents that Congress relied upon in when creating VAWA self-petitioning in 1994. Includes a discussion of immigration related abuse, details about the types of physical, sexual and emotional abuse victims suffered, describes the types of emotional abuse that are significantly related to physical and sexual abuse, and provides empirical data documenting several of the factors that in and of themselves or collectively constitute “extreme cruelty” under U.S. immigration laws.