Public Awareness
OPDV Bulletin: Women of Color Face Additional Challenges
In communities of color, individuals often work on multiple issues simultaneously. Many activist women of color have long recognized that working on the issue of violence against women--especially domestic violence-- meant that they had to work on poverty, racism, and heterosexism along with domestic violence. Many of the women we recognize as pioneers in the field often began their work on poverty, racism or labor issues in their own communities. It was simply not possible for them to address one particular issue alone since all of the "isms" affected them on a daily basis.
The challenge for women activists was not only to convince their community members that violence against women was a serious issue but to ensure that women in the mainstream domestic violence movement recognized and valued their contributions. Women such as Pat Eng, Martha Garcia, Sojourner McCauley, Deborah Williams Mohammed, Elsa Rios, Beth Ritchie, Sujata Warrier, Frances Wong, and Gwen Wright, to name a few, often fought lonely battles in their home communities. The challenges were many. First, they had to get members of their communities not to prioritize race over gender; then they had to get them to talk about the two issues simultaneously. They had to ensure victims' safety within the community and figure out how to hold perpetrators accountable. At the same time, they had to battle to get the battered women's movement to address both the issue of racism and the inability of shelters to meet the needs of poor women of color. Many of these activists were forced to create their own programs to meet the needs of the women in their communities. This led to the creation of wonderful programs for women of color run by women of color staff and board members. The persistence and creativity of the women above have led to programs such as Violence Intervention Program, New York Asian Women's Center and others.
Following the leadership of these pioneering women, a younger generation has attempted to create similar programs, such as Hispanics United in Buffalo, Spanish Action League in Syracuse, Islamic Women's Center in Long Island, and the Korean American Family Services Center and Sakhi in New York City. The presence of the same women in state coalition meetings, conferences and other venues has forced many older programs to recognize the need to diversify their offerings so that the needs of all battered women are met. Although we are now better able to address racism, we still have a long way to go before all battered women are empowered.
