A 7-Year Prospective Study: Differences Among U.S.-Born Abused Women and Non-U.S.-Born Women

Purpose: An estimated 18.9 million immigrant women reside in the US. Immigrant women are subject to increased violence. It is evident from recent studies that a woman's citizenship status does not exempt her from exposure to partner violence.  The purpose of this presentation is to examine social support, self-efficacy and marginalization of abused women and how they differ based on US-born compared to non-US-born, with and without documentation.

Methods: A 7-year prospective design of 300 English and Spanish speaking women began in 2010.  Approximately 38% of the women were born outside the U.S.

Results: Women who were born in the US had significantly higher self-efficacy and marginality scores compared to non-US-born women without documents. No significant differences in social support among abused women who are US-born compared to non-US-born with and without documentation.  Women who were not born in the US and did not have documents had higher marginalization scores than both women born in the US and those women not born in the US but possessed documents.

Conclusions:  Undocumented women may be at greater risk for violence due to their increased marginalization and decreased self efficacy.  Evidence from this study will be used to inform practice and policy to improve the protection and safety of women who live with abuse.