No race, culture, community or family is immune to family violence.

 

Prevalance

• Globally, 1 out of 3 women beaten or sexually abused during their life time
• U.S.: Approximately 3 million women battered every year
• U.S.: Approximately 10 million children exposed to domestic violence each year
• Texas: 182,087 incidents reported in 2004
• Houston: 31,000 incidents reported in 2004
• Harris County: Over 45,000 family violence incidents reported in an average year
• Daya: The number of distress calls Daya received grew 17 fold over the past 5 years, from 189 in 2003 to 3308 in 2007. In the past year, our client calls have increased by 35% from 2451 in 2006 to 3308 in 2007. In 2007, the number of clients served by Daya increased by 19% over the previous year.

Comprehensive research on domestic violence is still limited, particularly research which analyzes the crossroads of domestic violence and the South Asian community.

 

 

Unique Issues Surrounding South Asian Victims

Two out of five south asian women have experienced partner violence. A rate disproportionately higher than that of other minority groups.

The issue of domestic violence has not been sufficiently addressed in the South Asian community, and because of that very few programs are currently available to ensure the safety and well-being of South Asian families in the U.S.

• Barriers caused by cultural/religious beliefs; linguistic barrier
• Isolation from home/family; also from adopted community
• Guided by values of privacy, honor, loyalty, shame
• Total dependency on one person, i.e. the abuser
• Lack of knowledge of legal rights and resources
• Visa status - fear of deportation/jail
• Perceived 'good life' in U.S.
• Involvement of in-laws; extended family members

Domestic violence is an issue in the South Asian community, as it is in all other communities. In one of the few studies conducted, researchers Anita Raj and Jay Silverman discovered that more than 40% of the 160 South Asian women, living in the Greater Boston area they surveyed, indicated that they were victims of intimate partner violence, and only 50% of women who experienced intimate partner violence were aware of services available to help them.

 

Daya Statistics

Daya Annual Call Statistics

Year	Total Calls	Calls from Clients	Percent of Total Calls
2003	335	189	56.4%
2004	754	320	42.4%
2005	1923	1178	61.3%
2006	3196	2451	76.7%
2007	4252	3308	77.8%

 

 

In 2006, Daya handled more than twice as many client calls as in 2005! Charting the call volume helps Daya understand its demand and develop its services more efficiently and effectively

 

 

 

 

In 2007, Daya served 197 victims of domestic violence, 159 of whom were new in 2007. Daya tracks its client by national origin within the South Asian community. Charting such diversity helps Daya tailor its services to client’s specific needs such as language, religious and cultural beliefs, immigration status and acculturation to our area.