Minority Women's Health

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Violence

Minority Women's Health > Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians > Health Topics > Violence

Violence affects women from all backgrounds. It is a leading cause of injury for American women between the ages of 15 and 54, but violence can happen at any age. Violence can have terrible and costly results for everyone involved, including families, communities, and society. Violence can take many forms including domestic or intimate partner violence, sexual assault and abuse, dating violence, and elder abuse. Learn more about the different types of violence in our Violence Against Women section.

Asian American/Pacific Islander females tend to have lower rates of intimate partner violence than other groups. About 15 percent of Asian American/Pacific Islander women have been victims of intimate partner violence. Intimate partner violence includes rape, physical assault, or stalking.

If you have been hurt by someone, keep in mind, it is not your fault. You did not cause the abuse to occur, and you are not responsible for the violent behavior of someone else.

Publications

1.   Violence Against Women — Too many women suffer violence at the hands of someone close to them. This Web page provides abused women and their loved ones with resources and information they can use to get help. It also gives information about different types of abuse, including domestic violence, sexual abuse and assault, dating violence, and elder abuse. Look for help near you with this list of state anti-violence programs.

   http://www.womenshealth.gov/violence/

2.     Sexual Violence Fact Sheet — This fact sheet discusses the prevalence and incidence of sexual violence, the associated risk factors, and consequences. It also provides some strategies in trying to prevent sexual violence.

   http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/images/SV%20Factsheet.pdf

3.   State Sexual Assault Coalitions — This publication offers a list of addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers of coalitions across the country that help with domestic violence.

   http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/statesexual.htm

4.     Understanding Intimate Partner Violence — This fact sheet provides statistical information on the number of women who are victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), characteristics of the most common victims and perpetrators of IPV, and the effects it can have on a person and society as a whole.

   http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/ipv_factsheet.pdf

5.     Understanding Sexual Violence — This fact sheet discusses the prevalence and incidence of sexual violence, the associated risk factors, and consequences. It also provides some strategies for trying to prevent sexual violence.

   http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/images/SV%20Factsheet.pdf

6. Are You Being Abused? (Copyright © American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) — This simple true-false quiz helps victims and those who care about them identify the signs of abuse. It encourages victims to seek assistance and gives phone numbers to call for help.

   http://www.acog.org/from_home/departments/dept_notice.cfm?recno=17&bulletin=198

7. Asian American (Copyright © National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence) — This resource provides a list of organizations that focus specifically on helping Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians seek refuge against domestic and sexual violence.

   http://www.ncdsv.org/ncd_linksasian.html

8. Domestic Violence: Protecting Yourself and Your Children (Copyright © American Academy of Family Physicians) — This fact sheet provides information on how to protect yourself and your children from domestic violence and where to go to get help, and includes other important facts you should know about domestic violence.

   http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/safety/kids-family/052.html

9. VictimLaw (Copyright © National Center for Victims of Crime) — VictimLaw has been designed as a comprehensive, user-friendly, online database of victims' rights statutes, tribal laws, constitutional amendments, court rules, administrative code provisions, and case summaries of related court decisions that meets the needs of a wide variety of users with different levels of substantive and technological expertise. Such ready access to information can advance the cause of crime victims' rights by facilitating the exercise, implementation, and enforcement of those rights.

   http://www.victimlaw.info

10. Violence & Domestic Abuse — Myths and Facts (Copyright © The Women's Center) — This fact sheet addresses common misconceptions about domestic violence victims and abusers. It also features links to more resources on violence and domestic abuse.

    http://www.thewomenscenter.org/content.asp?contentid=537

Organizations

1.   Office of Minority Health, OPHS, OS, HHS
2.   Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice
3. Asian Pacific Women's Center
4. National Center for Victims of Crime
5. National Domestic Violence Hotline
6. Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network

= Indicates Federal Resources

Resources reviewed March 2008.