By FRANCES KAI-HWA WANG, NBC News
In the wake of the video release showing Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancée Janay Palmer in an elevator, private stories about #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft have been flooding into public spaces like Twitter and other media outlets, as women and men step up to tell their stories of domestic violence. Asian-American voices, many of whom are often silenced due to cultural pressures, are now starting to speak out.
Ravens running back Ray Rice, right, and his wife Janay made statements to the news media May 5, 2014, at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md, regarding his assault charge for knocking her unconscious in a New Jersey casino. On Monday, Sept. 9, 2014, Rice was let go from the Baltimore Ravens after a video surfaced from TMZ showing the incident. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/MCT via Getty Images)
“Leaving an abusive situation is already a tremendous challenge for many survivors,” says Texas attorney Ramey Ko who has worked with many domestic violence survivors, “Financial support, safe stable housing, and child care for themselves and their children already pose significant challenges. When you add language and cultural barriers, immigrant status, and other similar issues into the mix, AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) victims can be even more marginalized and face greater barriers to leaving that are too often forgotten or ignored.”
According to a compilation of studies by the Asian Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence, 41–61% of Asian American respondents reported experiencing intimate, physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime. This violence, experts say, is often underreported.
Ko points to the importance of support—either through a personal network or through social services —as a key factor leading to resolution. But that support, Ko warns, may not be available for a number of reasons in Asian American families, including: if individuals have limited English proficiency, if breaking their silence means overcoming cultural stigmas, if ethnic or religious community groups aren’t equipped to handle domestic violence issues, or if social service agencies aren’t able to provide culturally or language appropriate assistance.
