WINK Noticias: Violencia doméstica en la comunidad hispana

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three Hispanic women in the country has experienced some type of domestic violence.
News Wink was able to speak with “Maria” who claims that the shelter for abused women and children in Naples changed her life.

“It was a very difficult decision, but I came with my children and when I entered here, I saw that there were many possibilities where my children were very happy, thank God from the first moment,” said Maria about her arrival at The Shelter.

She also shared how her son’s lives were changed.

“Before, my oldest boy liked to grab his brother and sometimes he would [tighten around] his neck. Not anymore. Now he talks more instead of getting physical. It is a good change. ”

Helping youth learn the signs of an unhealthy relationship and encouraging equality between women and men is important, according to Norma Hernández Rodríguez, Outreach Director for the Immokalee shelter. She says that, in addition to teaching girls to identify warning signs of abusive behavior, it is important to educate boys that they can be kind without jeopardizing their masculinity. Through The Shelter’s Raising Gentle’men program, boys and young men learn to be better men in their families and to break the cycle of violence in the community.

Hernández adds that there are cultural customs that play a role in cases of domestic violence, for example machismo.

“Many times we see that machismo, the man continues to use power and control to maintain and hold the woman down… These customs have passed from generation to generation,” Hernández points out. “The mother suffered it, the grandmother suffered it. Many times there is shame. The woman thinks that it is shameful to leave her husband.”

According to Hernández, education is the key to let women know what services are available to them and to break the generational cycle of abuse. The Shelter offers program educational programs to prevent domestic violence raise community awareness.