Blog Post:5 Domestic Violence within Immigrant Wives
This article was primarily about women who married outside of their countries to men living in the U.S. How mostly women who are at greater risk of domestic violence were ones that were immigrants. This is because they are dependent on their husbands through being able to get citizenship and the right to be able to live here in America by legal marriage. The percentage of women who were involved with domestic violence were immigrant women with the result of 90%. I thought this was very much high indeed. Men with immigrant wives have more control over them. If the wives due try to leave or get away from the abuse they back fire with the point that if they choose to leave. They can no longer continue to live here in America and will be be deported. This keeps the husband in control of their wives, makes them obey his rules. In cases that he is the one that is bringing money into the home and who has the job. This is why escaping from domestic violence is so hard for immigrant wives. I do agree with the argument that is being presented in this article and it is so very true for woman who don’t have the right to live here in the U.S. all depends on their husband. If he decides to divorce its the end for her stay in America and back to her home country that she came from. Yes the essay does raise new questions of what will happen if the wives decide to place a report on their husband due the domestic abuse that they are experiencing? Would they be sent home or would they be given a chance to stay and continue a fresh new start of their lives without the abuser.
Notes
For the ones that are around me like my cousins. They both had arranged marriages in Cambodia and their marriages are fine and no domestic violence is within their household. But in other cases that my parents do tell me when arranged marriages are made for Cambodian brides to other races out of their own there is conflict and domestic violence in the household.
My cousin married an older Caucasian man to be able to come to America through an arrange marriage. My family goes through a lot of arranged marriages.
It was pretty interesting reading about how military families carry more abuse that regular civilian families.
Asian countries are well wide known for arranged marriages.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A16683868
My goodness. that’s very sad of the immigrant wives. It is very understandable for immigrant wives to be caught up in a situation with their husbands domestically abusing them. They take the advantage of being a citizen of America and the wife not a citizen and probably threaten them for not following their desires or other needless necessities. I wonder how the women are dealing with domestic violence. They must be frightened like crazy. On the other hand, there are matters where the wife is the issue. So the husband has the right to use that claim agianst her because he might say something like him bringing her to America because he loved her but if she cheats on him with another dude, it might upset him. But it’s totally understandable for the wife to be frightened and abide to his rules because of the fact that she is not an American citizen. For her to report the abuse, she must have done everything right because the husband can use the wrongdoings from her and use that against her.
There is a problem with the United States with receiving citizenship. Women being used as arranged marriages to only later be used in abuse should not be allowed to anyone in any country. The rate in the United States is surprisingly high and with the majority being immigrant wives is not something that should be allowed. The laws on this issue needs to be altered and have the women have citizenship if divorce arises. This is a country that wants to help its citizens as well as other countries. With the domestic violence and divorce ultimately having the women shipped back to her home country only hurts them rather than giving life and freedom. There also should be psychological testing of the person receiving a bride so there is no chance of an abusive husband. This writer knows a lot about this problem and has known firsthand about it. Domestic violence with immigrant wives is a terrific article that really raised the question about this issue and hopefully changes the laws so more immigrant wives will never have this problem again.
-ALex Perry
Wow, I never thought about the fact that immigrants depend so much on their spouse (if they are here by legal marriage) that they can be in a situation where they are literally stuck. There wives or husbands abuse them and unless they want to be deported, they cant do anything about it.
My family and I are from Canada, and my mom married man who was a U.S citizen in order for us to get legal rights to be here. Of course she didn’t marry him just for that reason, she really did want to move here and be with him.
However, citizenship by marriage is so much easier than going through all the paperwork, tests, and fees. That is why so many women or men marry to stay in a specific country. If immigration was easier for people, they wouldnt be forced to stay in abusive marriages, relationships, or situations that they shouldnt have to handle.
Immigration costs SO much. It really is ridiculous what you have to go through in order to become part of another country, and when you leave from a place where you are forced to live in poverty, or racial circumstances, or even money issues. Whatever reason someone chooses to change countrys, it should be easier to do than what it is now.