YWCA ‘Responds’ to Hispanic Women’s Needs, Seeks Volunteers

By Caroline Stauffer

For Teresa M. Vazquez-Salvadores, Hispanic outreach coordinator for the Response Sexual Assault Support Services of the YWCA, the need for a specific effort to reach the Hampton Roads Hispanic population is evident by the area’s changing demographics. “It is obvious how much the Hispanic population has increased here,” she said.

Norfolk-based Response has served sexual assault victims in the area since 1975, but started Hispanic Outreach a year ago. Response also assists victims of domestic violence, provides counseling, conducts outreach events at colleges, universities and churches and runs a 24-7 hotline.

An important Response responsibility is accompanying victims of sexual assault to the hospital, where medical professionals perform check-ups and use rape kits to preserve evidence of assault. “We are a companion at the hospital,” Vazquez-Salvadores said. The YWCA started Hispanic Outreach after receiving frequent calls from local hospitals that were observing Hispanic sexual assault victims, even those who spoke English, who were just not comfortable communicating in a second language in such a stressful and personal situation. “It makes it a lot easier to go to the hospital with someone with whom you can actually bond,” said Vazquez-Salvadores. “We are that hand you can hold.”

Vazquez-Salvadores, who is originally from Spain, noted that many Hispanic women who lack legal documents are reluctant to report attacks or seek help out of fear that their immigration status will be question. She emphasized that neither Response nor the hospitals will question a victim’s status, and that the police will not even become involved unless the victim decides to press charges -- a decision that can be made later on independent of treatment or counseling.

Response, a small nonprofit with a stated mission to eliminate racism and empower women, faces additional challenges in its work in the Hispanic community. “We get a lot of calls from the Hispanic community about domestic violence,” Vazquez-Salvadores said. “There is a very old fashioned way of handling women’s issues in the community. I find a lot more situations within the Hispanic community than with other communities where men psychologically abuse women. For instance they might not allow women to leave the house without permission; there is often alcohol involved. It’s really a very frustrating situation.”

Vazquez-Salvadores’ advice for women who may be in an abusive relationship is clear: “speak up,” she said. “I tell women that they have the power to choose whether to be in the relationship or not, and that they are smart enough to get a job and control their own lives. A lot of Hispanic women think once you are married your husband controls your life. I’m just trying to give them power.”

Vazquez-Salvadores, who is also Response’s volunteer coordinator, said that providing sufficient resources in Spanish is another challenge. She does crisis counseling in Spanish herself, and serves as a translator for victims in need of long-term counseling. She currently gives Spanish-speaking women her office phone number, 757-451-0174, rather than Response’s hotline number, 757-622-4300, but looks to improve the Hispanic community’s hotline access by recruiting bilingual volunteers. The YWCA provides 32-hour training sessions to prepare hotline volunteers to work as crisis counselors, a volunteer position that can be done anywhere with access to a telephone.

Response most often works with women from Norfolk and Virginia Beach, but Vazquez-Salvadores maintains relationships with the Newport News Police Department as well as the Norfolk Police Department. “They are aware of our services,” she said. Both police departments also have Hispanic Outreach programs, encouraging Hispanics to report crimes and trust police officers without fearing Federal Immigration.

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