Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

21
From Sex Trafficking to FGM:
Emerging Issues Confronting Advocates for
Immigrant Battered Women
by Dorchen A. Leidholdt
Like other domestic violence victims, immigrant battered women have often
been subjected to multiple forms of violence and exploitation, from rape
and workplace sexual harassment to child sexual abuse. Lawyers representing
battered women who have endured other forms of gender-based violence must
be aware that these experiences of abuse often intensify the victim’s trauma and
may require referrals to specialized social service and health care providers as
well as to other legal professionals. Advocates for immigrant women may find
this situation particularly daunting. Because the violence may have taken place
in a different culture, in a form with which you are unfamiliar, your client may
have urgent needs that you are unaware of and rights that, as a consequence, are
never vindicated. Some of these forms of violence, like trafficking in persons
and exploitation in internet marriages, are more common in the cases of clients
from industrialized societies. Other types of violence, such as child marriage
and female genital mutilation, are more frequent in the cases of victims from
traditional cultures.
This article will explore several prevalent forms of gender-based violence
and exploitation with which lawyers representing immigrant domestic violence
victims should be acquainted. Awareness of them will not only enable you to
understand better your client’s experience and make appropriate referrals; it may
also strengthen her immediate legal case and enable you to pursue all available
legal strategies that will further her safety and stability.