Love Shouldn't Hurt
By IRM
6% of Samaritan House domestic violence victims are Hispanics.
“Love shouldn’t hurt,” said Robin of Samaritan House, a Virginia Beach safe house for victims of domestic violence.
“No one deserves to be hurt or to live afraid of the person they love.”
Robin invites any woman in a domestic violence situation to call Samaritan House 24-hour hotline at 757-430-2120 and get help.
“We can help Hispanic women through our translator service,” Robin said. “We’re all trained to say one moment ‘un momento’ while we connect to our language services of workers who can speak in the language of the caller. We’re actually able to help women in a variety of languages through our translator services.”
Samaritan House provides 60 days of emergency shelter while a safety plan is created for the woman and family. And Robin wants the message to get out that the services are confidential and every women, documented or undocumented is given the 60-day emergency shelter. Samaritan House can help with follow-up services, for up to two years, if the applicant qualifies for extended programs.
Juan, a professional counselor at the Center for Child & Family Services in Hampton, has served over 50 Hispanic individuals since August 2008. He recommends that any victim of domestic violence call police for immediate help. Juan can also be reached at the Center number 757-838-1960 ext 311.
“Domestic violence is a sick manner of treating any person,” Juan said. “It lowers the victims self-esteem to the point where she/he believes she/he end up blaming themselves.”
Juan, one of two Spanish-speaking counselors at the Center, provides domestic violence therapy for both offender and victim and will begin offering Anger Management classes starting next month for court-referred offenders.
“We develop a safety plan and help with transitional services for safety and self-reliance for the victims,” Juan said. “Most importantly we don’t ask any questions about citizenship status.”
Juan, a native Salvadorian, communicated his thoughts on how he sees the old cultural point of view ‘that the man is the only one who knows how to support a family’ changing in much of Latin America. He said women are now working outside of the home more and getting an education and see other options instead of remaining in domestic violence for their livelihood.
Former domestic violent victim, Kathy, from the Dominican Republic, stated that she fell right into the emotional and physical domestic violence seen in her childhood.
“It took a lot of courage to get out of the domestic violence situation and I tell all women they can do it too,” Kathy said. “I would advice women that they are worth so much more and that their partners are never going to change if they don't seek help. Things could get worse and in a couple of minutes someone could get killed, the partners, the children, or themselves. Nothing is worth their lives!
As many prepare to celebrate Valentines Day, let’s remember the words from Robin at Samaritan House, “love shouldn’t hurt.”
Happy Valentines Day!
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