What Is the Top Barrier Preventing Hispanic Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims from Seeking Help?

Full Transparency

Our editorial transparency tool uses blockchain technology to permanently log all changes made to official releases after publication.

More of our content is being permanently logged via blockchain technology starting [10.23.2020].

Learn more

According to a new survey presented today at a briefing on Capitol Hill, “The NO MÁS Study: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in the U.S. Latin@*Community,” fear of deportation is preventing domestic violence and sexual assault victims from coming forward to seek help.  In fact, 41% of the adult Hispanics surveyed consider it a top barrier.

The survey, commissioned by the Avon Foundation for Women for Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network, the nation’s leading Latin@ organization on domestic violence prevention, and  the national public awareness campaign NO MORE, is the largest and most comprehensive survey conducted to date on domestic violence in the Latin@ community.  It provides in depth insights into how both domestic violence and sexual assault are impacting the Hispanic community and the unique obstacles Latin@ survivors face when seeking help.

“There are approximately 54 million Latinos in the U.S., and yet no study of this magnitude had been conducted to shed greater light to this issue,” said Virginia Witt, Executive Director of NO MORE.

In partnership with Verizon, Casa de Esperanza and NO MORE will use the findings to launch “NO MÁS,” a public awareness campaign that will aim to spark conversations about these often hidden issues and increase access to resources for victims and survivors in the Hispanic community.

Victoria Boston, Vice President of Customer Service, Northeast Area, spoke at the policy briefing this morning and applauded NO MORE and Casa de Esperanza for boldly stepping out and shining a spotlight on the impact of domestic violence in the Latin@ community.  She also announced Verizon’s full support of the NO MÁS campaign and emphasized our commitment to combating domestic violence through our HopeLine program.

The NO MÁS, Spanish-language campaign is the first of its kind to engage and activate the Hispanic community to end domestic violence and sexual assault. The campaign will include PSAs and a wide variety of educational resources and is set to launch in the fall of 2015.

Additional findings from the survey are available at www.nomore.org.

*Casa de Esperanza uses “@” in place of the masculine “o” when referring to people or things that are gender neutral or both masculine and feminine.  This usage reflects commitment to gender inclusion and recognizes the important contributions of both men and women.

Related Articles

02/15/2021

Virtual Reality (VR) has begun to transform medicine in profound ways. VR solutions are being used to train doctors and to plan and practice operations.

10/23/2020

Verizon’s military discounts site shows everything you need to know about Wireless offers, FiOS savings and military career opportunities, all in one place, making it simple for service members and veterans to discover what Verizon has to offer.