2008 Woodie Awards
Female immigrants face challenges of abuse, stigma
Margaret Watters
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Front Page
Immigrant women in Ohio may face more than just cultural barriers-many struggle to place trust in what they see as an unfamiliar and intimidating legal system.
As a result, serious crimes such as physical and sexual assault and domestic violence go unreported.
Detective Sgt. Jim Buchholz at the Oxford Police Department (OPD) said that only 10 percent of all sexual assault incidents are reported.
According to Buchholz, when it comes to crimes against female immigrants, additional hurdles to getting help exist.
"They're going to feel that they will be discriminated against," Buchholz said. "I would think that an immigrant would feel that the system of justice in the U.S. can not adequately protect them."
Buchholz said victims of sexual assault that do report crimes do so with the belief that even if the system fails, the legal system will still take care of them.
Jessica Donohue-Dioh, coordinator of the Alliance for Immigrant Women at the YWCA in Cincinnati, said that immigrants are less likely to report crimes than citizens. Regardless of
immigration status, Donohue-Dioh said across racial, economic, legal status and social lines, women, as a whole, are not reporting 100 percent of the rapes or sexual assaults that occur to them.
According to Donohue-Dioh, these unreported crimes hurt the community in different ways. These criminals are not only left to walk the streets, Donahue-Dioh said, but police departments are prevented from understanding the degree of problems in specific areas. This misinformation not only prevents police departments from receiving the appropriate funding to confront these problems, but it directs attention away from necessary community programming.
Buchholz said he doesn't think citizenship status matters to police when an abuse case is first brought to their attention.
"I don't want to be flippant about this but if you're raped, I'm not going to ask you what nationality you are and if you have a green card," Buchholz said.
As a result, serious crimes such as physical and sexual assault and domestic violence go unreported.
Detective Sgt. Jim Buchholz at the Oxford Police Department (OPD) said that only 10 percent of all sexual assault incidents are reported.
According to Buchholz, when it comes to crimes against female immigrants, additional hurdles to getting help exist.
"They're going to feel that they will be discriminated against," Buchholz said. "I would think that an immigrant would feel that the system of justice in the U.S. can not adequately protect them."
Buchholz said victims of sexual assault that do report crimes do so with the belief that even if the system fails, the legal system will still take care of them.
Jessica Donohue-Dioh, coordinator of the Alliance for Immigrant Women at the YWCA in Cincinnati, said that immigrants are less likely to report crimes than citizens. Regardless of
immigration status, Donohue-Dioh said across racial, economic, legal status and social lines, women, as a whole, are not reporting 100 percent of the rapes or sexual assaults that occur to them.
According to Donohue-Dioh, these unreported crimes hurt the community in different ways. These criminals are not only left to walk the streets, Donahue-Dioh said, but police departments are prevented from understanding the degree of problems in specific areas. This misinformation not only prevents police departments from receiving the appropriate funding to confront these problems, but it directs attention away from necessary community programming.
Buchholz said he doesn't think citizenship status matters to police when an abuse case is first brought to their attention.
"I don't want to be flippant about this but if you're raped, I'm not going to ask you what nationality you are and if you have a green card," Buchholz said.
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