The topic of Immigration continues to dominate news outlets in the United States.
No matter your stance on the subject, immigrants, like many other vulnerable populations, are often at higher risk of experiencing sexual violence. They also face more barriers to seeking and obtaining services, safety, and reporting. Service providers and organizations have the power to eliminate some barriers and better provide services to immigrant survivors of sexual assault. At SAVA, we provide services to all survivors of sexual assault regardless of immigration status.
To service immigrants, you need to understand how they experience sexual assault differently than other minority populations. Sexual assault is something that can happen to anyone regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, class, age, ability, or immigration status.
Here are just three ways sexual violence impacts immigrants in the United States.
Sexual Violence in Country of Origin
Immigrants come to the United States for a variety of reasons from seeking a better life for themselves and their families to obtaining employment or education. Immigrants may be seek safety in the United States or want to escape violence in their home countries. This is particularly true for refugees and asylum seekers, who may experience physical and sexual violence from gangs, family, and in many cases, their partners. In these cases, immigrants come to the United States to escape sexual and physical violence because their own governments are unable to protect them. It’s important to remember that even if safety is obtained once in the United States, the trauma from those experiences may still remain.
Coming to America
Immigrants crossing the southern border, the likelihood of being sexually assaulted is very high. One investigation found that 80% of the women and girls crossing the southern border into the United States were sexually assaulted. Immigrants experienced sexual violence from guides or “coyotes”, government officials like Border Patrol, as well as other immigrants in their group. Sexual assault happens so frequently that women coming from Mexico will purchase and take contraceptives before they cross. Furthermore, immigrants will often not report these crimes for fear of deportation and even when they do, many of them never see justice.
Detention Centers
Immigrants in the United States who are undocumented are at risk of being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Undocumented immigrants who are detained are sent to ICE detention centers all over the country where they may experience sexual violence from other detainees, guards, officers, and others. One investigation found that there were 1,224 complaints made from Jan. 2010 to Sept. 2017. These incidents primarily took place in detention centers and of those, only 43 were investigated between Jan. 2010 and June 2017. It’s important to remember that sexual assault is often an underreported crime. The actual incidents of sexual violence experienced by immigrants in detention centers may be higher. Many survivors experience guilt and shame regardless of where the assault took place, but the fear of retaliation from other detainees or staff may also hinger survivors from reporting. Immigrants also face many barriers to reporting such as language and cultural barriers.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was first passed in 2003 to address and reduce the incidents of sexual assault happening in corrections facilities like prisons, jails, and community corrections. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) however, did not adopt PREA regulations until 2014. This may have an impact on reports and investigations of sexual assaults happening in immigration detention centers across the country.
These are just a few of the countless ways immigrants experience sexual assault. It’s important though, particularly for service providers, to consider the ways in which immigrants experience sexual violence and how these may differ from the experiences of people who are not immigrants, in order to effectively help and support immigrants in our communities.
If you’re an immigrant survivor in need of support, counseling or advocacy services, contact SAVA at 970-472-4204.