Help-Seeking Barriers for Latinx Victims of Intimate Partner Homicide: Insight From Survivors,Advocates,and Community Practitioners

Theoretical Framework

Intersectionality provides an important lens from which to contextualize the help-seeking experiences of cisgender and transgender Latinx IPH survivors. The term intersectionality was first developed by Crenshaw (1989, 1991) in response to the historical legal erasure of Black women by perspectives that focused on a single axis of oppression: race or gender. Crenshaw articulated that Black women were “multiply-burdened” because their reality was defined by various intersecting identities that converged to shape inequality (Crenshaw, 1989, p. 140). Accordingly, intersectionality provides the necessary approach to address how multiple identity dimensions of Latinx women intersect to inform the needs of IPH survivors. In the U.S., Latinx people represent the largest racial and ethnic minority group, however Latinx populations are not a monolith. The Latinx identity is multidimensional with aspects including race, nationality, culture, language, gender identity, and sexuality (Hernandez-Truyol, 1999). The intersectionality theory suggests that there is a synergistic interaction created by the over-lapping oppression and marginalization across multiple levels of identity thereby contributing to minority related stressors (Veldhuis et al., 2023). These stressors go beyond structural interactions and extend into their interpersonal life and romantic partnerships. It follows that for Latinx IPH survivors their experiences and help-seeking barriers would vary and warrant an intersectional analysis. With this consideration, the present study was committed to the inclusivity of Latinx IPH survivors with diverse IPH survivor representation in regards to geography, indigeneity, language, and gender identity.

Barriers to Help-Seeking for Latinx Intimate Partner Violence Survivors

Latinx IPH survivors face unique experiences when it comes to engaging in formal help-seeking behaviors that include immigrant status, economic insecurity, and inadequate system resources (Robinson et al., 2021; Rodriguez et al., 2019). Often used as a tool of coercion and control, immigrant status can lead survivors to remain silent about abuse (Rodriguez et al., 2019; Sabri et al., 2018). Transgender Latina women who flee their home countries to seek asylum in the U.S. are faced with the compounding effects of transphobia, misogyny, and intensifying immigrant xenophobia (X. K. Guadalupe-Diaz & West, 2020). Furthermore, transgender Latina women may experience more discrimination and other barriers at shelters that serve predominately heterosexual and cisgender survivors (X. L. Guadalupe-Diaz & Jasinski, 2017). Language barriers for Latinx survivors in health and human services are also well documented (Brabeck & Guzmán, 2009; Reina et al., 2014) and survivors from marginalized ethnic communities also report discrimination from police (Robinson et al., 2021; Rodriguez et al., 2018). Having one of the largest pay gaps among all racial and ethnic groups and comprising a large part of the low-wage labor market, Latina women in particular may have limited resources with which to cope or leave abusive relationships (Rodriguez et al., 2019). Financial abuse, such as restricting access to money or financial information, has been found to be a common form of abuse experienced by Latinas (Davila et al., 2021). Responsibilities to children, preservation of the family unit, and the cultural stigma of divorce may also contribute to low rates of help-seeking (Bauer et al., 2000). It’s no surprise that Latinx survivors of IPV tend to prefer informal sources of support such as friends, family, or faith-based communities (Sabina et al., 2012).

Data Collection

Interview data was collected through listening sessions and key informant interviews. A semi-structured interview guide was developed in English by the second author with feedback from the resource center’s staff members. The interview guide included open-ended questions on high-risk IPV cases, risk factors and warning signs for IPH among Latinx survivors, experiences with seeking (or delivering) services, and interactions with the criminal justice system. The interview guide was translated into Spanish and listening sessions and key informant interviews were conducted in Spanish. The listening session with indigenous Latina survivors was conducted in Mam with a multi-lingual Spanish translator. Mam is an indigenous Mayan language that is spoken throughout Guatemala and Mexico.

The inclusion criteria for survivor, advocate, and practitioner participant eligibility included being 18 years of age or older, identifying as Latinx, and not being in acute crisis. A site coordinator from each partnering organization was dedicated to assist with the recruitment of participants from each organization. Once coordinators identified eligible participants, participants completed a consent and eligibility intake form. The coordinator was responsible for coordinating a time and date for the listening sessions to take place with eligible participants. For each organization, separate listening sessions were conducted with survivors and advocates. All listening sessions were hosted on Zoom and lasted approximately 2 hr. The coordinator was able to connect participants to direct services and resources in the community, if needed. In addition to the listening sessions, two to three key informant interviews were conducted with each partner organization to elicit community practitioner expertise on IPH in Latinx communities. Community practitioners were included as key informants given their “front line” knowledge with Latinx populations and IPH (Serrata et al., 2017). Site coordinators from each organization recommended key informants from each partner organization. Similarly, the key informants completed a consent and eligibility intake form. Interviews were hosted on Zoom and lasted approximately 1 hr. The roles held by key informants included program staff, program directors, program coordinators, police officers, family and child advocates, community college educator, and service providers. For the purposes of this study, the use of the archival data was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Central Florida.

Participants

Across the partnering organizations, 108 survivors, advocates, and community practitioners and were recruited to participate in the listening sessions. Among the 108 invited participants, 90 individuals consented, agreed to participate, and attended one of nine listening sessions for survivors (n = 43 survivor participants) and one of six listening sessions for service providers (n = 34 advocate and practitioner participants). Additionally, 13 community practitioners were invited to participate in key informant interviews and completed the interview, though two individuals participated in both an advocate listening session and key informant interview. Participant demographics are presented in aggregate form in accordance with IRB protocol to protect the privacy of advocates and community practitioners working in a small community of Latinx-serving culturally specific organizations.

Analytic Strategy

Data analysis was guided by an inductive modified, grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006). Listening sessions and key informant interviews were digitally recorded via Zoom and transcribed from Spanish to English using NVivo 12 transcription service. Back translation was used by two bilingual research assistants who reviewed the transcripts for quality and accuracy. Following transcription, members of the research team met and shared initial impressions to inform the development of a codebook. Each transcript was uploaded into NVivo 12 to facilitate organization and was independently coded by members of the research and evaluation team. The research team met regularly to conduct initial coding, develop and refine the codebook, and resolve discrepancies in coding with the assistance of NVivo 12. Queries were run by the first author on the help-seeking node and these codes were further analyzed using an inductive, line-by-line coding approach and the constant comparison method; this was an iterative process to identify themes (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The constant comparison step is essential given that it facilitates theory development and enhances reliability and validity (Morse et al., 2002). The second author independently analyzed the help-seeking node using the same process and the authors met regularly to reconcile discrepancies in theme development.

Inaccessible Criminal Justice System

The first major theme related to barriers for help-seeking for both cisgender and transgender Latinx IPH survivors was identified as the inaccessibility of the criminal justice system. Survivor, advocate, and practitioner participants in both the listening sessions and the key informant interviews emphasized the complicated experiences of Latinx IPH survivors when accessing and navigating the system. A key informant, for example, described how the criminal justice system processes disincentivize help-seeking behaviors and result in a window of missed opportunity to intervene before a high-risk case ends in homicide:

No, no están organizados, te hacen perder el tiempo. Como te dije nuevamente, la persona va y empiezan a llenar un montón de papeles y un papel y un papel. Tienes que entender cuando estas personas están en este estado mental que te han dado. Tienes dolor físicamente, espiritualmente y mentalmente. Estás dolida. Tu cabeza no está para ese momento de llenar toda la acta de nacimiento y traen el seguro social y no, entonces no tengo un seguro social, no tengo un acta de nacimiento aquí el se quedó con eso, ah pero eso se necesita, o sea, te piden una serie de requisitos que son en ese momento. Mira, es como cuando una persona le da un un heart attack, hay un window, hay una ventana para que esa persona tu la lleves al hospital y tomen acción rápidamente y no hayan consecuencias negativas. En el caso de una de una mujer que ha sido abusada físicamente, vamos a hablar del peor caso que es cuando son abusados sexualmente y físicamente ok y escapan. Tú crees que esa persona tiene la mente, la cabeza para decir ah, espérate, ¿déjame entrar a la gaveta y llevarme el pasaporte o déjame buscar? No, no tiene cabeza para eso. Entonces muchas veces estas instituciones lo que hacen es que te hacen perder el tiempo. (They are not organized, they make you lose time. A person goes and they start to fill out a ton of paperwork, papers, and papers. You must understand that the mental state that people are in at this point. They are physically, mentally, and spiritually hurting. They are hurting. Their state of mind is not in that—to be filling out all these papers, to look for their birth certificate, social security card, or maybe they don’t have their birth certificate or social security card with them because the perpetrator kept it, but they need it, they ask for all these prerequisites. It’s like when someone has a heart attack, right, there’s a certain window of time to take that person to the hospital and act quickly so that there are no negative consequences. In the case of a woman who is being physically abused, let’s say, worst case scenario, they are sexually and physically abused and they finally escape. OK. Do you think that this person has the state of mind and bandwidth to say, ‘oh wait let me make sure I have my passport?’ No, they do not have the mental capacity for that. So many times, these institutions all they do is make people lose time.)

Participants across key informant interviews and listening sessions reiterated that accessing the criminal justice system is impeded by bureaucracy, disorganization, a slow response, unclear processes, and the need for multiple contacts and attempts that are frustrating and discouraging to survivors. As a result, this diminishes engagement with the system and leaves Latinx IPH survivors feeling revictimized.

Otra cosa es un sistema que sea más eficiente, porque muchas veces lo que vemos es que la gente se cansa. Y se cansa porque va, le cancelan la visita y un pleno para otro día. Y eso ocurre tres, cuatro o cinco veces hasta que la gente termina cansándose ya al final. Entonces, pues como dicen, ¿verdad? la justicia tardía no es justicia. ¿Sabe? Tenemos que hacer nuestros sistemas para que sean más ágiles, para responder a las necesidades en el momento que tienen las víctimas. (Another thing is that the system needs to be more effective, because many times what we see is—that people get tired. And they get tired because they go, they cancel their visit or put it for another day. This happens three, four, five times until people get tired at the end. Like they say, late justice isn’t justice, right? You know? We need to make our system more agile to respond to the need of victims in the exact moment.)

Revictimization by the criminal justice system was exacerbated for transgender Latinx IPH survivors underscoring the importance of considering help-seeking experiences among Latina women with multiple identities. Participants described negative interactions with criminal justice personnel including discrimination, misgendering, jokes and slurs, minimizing the abuse, and discounting reports of violence:

Bien, en mi caso, cuando tuve un arresto este oh, también te tratan como hombre y de hecho hasta hacen bromas entre ellos ah sobre tu apariencia, sobre tu género, sobre todo a un policía que hasta dijo que nosotras las trans me dijo ‘o ustedes las trans parecen tortugas. Se les mira la cabeza y la cola, pero nunca sabes qué son’ y[sic]. So, también, ellos hacen juegos bastantes incómodos para nosotros. (In my case, when I was arrested, they also treated me like a man and they actually made jokes amongst themselves on your appearance, on your gender, especially one police officer said ‘you trans are like tortoises. You can see their head and tail, but never what they are.’ So yeah, their jokes are uncomfortable for us.)

Inequitable Resources

The second major theme related to help-seeking barriers was identified as “inequitable resources.” This barrier encompassed participant descriptions of Latinx IPH survivors as an underserved population due to a general lack of resources and funding for victim services that inhibits help-seeking. Key informants expressed the difficulty of preventing IPH in Latinx communities simply because there are not enough resources for Latinx victims in high-risk cases to access. Results illustrated how culturally specific organizations struggle to respond to the disparate need for victim services in their communities compared to agencies serving predominantly white communities and families. Victim service providers and advocate participants perceived the unequal resource distribution as discriminatory against Latinx communities:

. . .el grave problema que estamos enfrentando y la violencia doméstica, a pesar de que se han hecho estos esfuerzos en VOWA (sic) y que vemos que los sistemas aun entre comillas han cambiado, pero públicamente puedo decir que necesitamos hacer un mayor esfuerzo para que estas comunidades tengan acceso y que sí es notorio la discriminación de la repartición de los beneficios de otros anglosajones a nosotros los hispanos. Por eso existe (nombre de organización) para abogar por estos cambios, para que revisemos, conversemos con las autoridades y directores de estas agencias. Cuando una sobreviviente se encuentra en un refugio y llama a nuestra agencia, nosotros vamos a llamar a quienes le dan los fondos a ellos para que sean observados, independientemente a que escribimos unas cartas para que esto pueda cambiar. Si necesitamos seguir trabajando más para estos cambios y que las agencias que reparten estos fondos también lo hagan con criterio justo. (The serious issues we are dealing with domestic violence, despite the progress of VAWA and small system changes, I can publicly say is that we need more efforts so that communities have access and yes, it is notoriously discriminatory how resources are distributed to other white as compared to us Hispanics. That is why (this organization) exists, to advocate for change and converse with authorities and directors of other agencies. When a survivor is in need of shelter and calls our agency, we are the ones to provide funds so that they may be taken in, we also write letters so that this may change. We need to keep working towards these changes so that agencies who distribute these funds do so equitably.)

Within the broader theme of inequitable resources, housing was a specific resource barrier and area of needed funding identified by listening session and interview participants. The scarcity of resources and victim services for Latinx IPH survivors leaves survivors with no housing alternatives when seeking refuge from violence. Both the availability and quality of housing resources for Latinx IPH survivors were areas of significant need identified that inhibit help-seeking. A key informant described the importance of sufficient victim resources, including housing needs, to prevent homicide in Latinx communities:

Definitivamente poderla brindarle los recursos de ayuda de inmediato para que ella pudiera salir de ese hogar y no esperar hasta ser asesinada. Muchas veces se detienen precisamente. Lo que escucho de la sobreviviente es que me tengo que quedar ahí porque no tengo donde ir. En los refugios no hay nada para mí. . .O sea, muchas razones que vemos que impida que estos estadísticas sean reducida es si tenemos mejores recursos de ayuda. (Definitely being able to provide the resources to help immediately so that she’s able to leave that home and not wait to be murdered. Many times this stops them. What I hear survivors says is that I have to stay because I don’t have where to go. There’s nothing for me in the shelters. . .Many reasons that we see to prevent these statistics are if we have better victim resources.)

Immigrant Identity

Additionally, findings demonstrated the role of immigration status as a significant barrier to formal help-seeking for both cisgender and transgender Latinx IPH survivors. From an intersectional framework, the experience of migration complicated help-seeking for survivors in a multifaceted manner often interrelated with other barriers. One key informant, for example, described how they recommend that Latinx survivors in high-risk relationships call the police, however immigration status often produces considerable fear of deportation, where survivors, instead, choose to remain in relationships that escalate to homicide. ¹

She was stabbed and she, she stayed on the floor bleeding instead of calling the police because she was scared of calling the police on him because of her immigration status. That was a really serious case where I thank God that he’s arrested now, but that case could have easily resulted in him killing her. And he was arrested, and he got out of jail and the first thing he did was go to her house and attempted to kill her again. That was like the perfect case of her being so more afraid of the police and immigration than being killed by him.

For Latinx IPH survivors, legal status as a factor inhibiting help-seeking is exacerbated by varying levels of acculturation. Results from the key informant interviews and the listening sessions revealed that the experience of migration is coupled with other aspects like a lack of knowledge surrounding legal protections and social services afforded to victims which impedes help-seeking. Moreover, findings from participants demonstrated how immigration status is also used by intimate partners as a tactic to exert coercive control, create an imbalance of power, and threaten survivors—again preventing formal help-seeking for Latinx IPH survivors.

yo viví una violencia que el siempre cuando yo he estuve embarazada, él siempre me amenazaba y por ese miedo yo no hablé y no hablaba, nunca decía nada porque él me decía, ‘yo te voy a quitar a tu hijo. Tú no eres una doctora, es una don nadie, no sirves para nada, que no eres nadie y tú te vas a largar a tu país.’ Y entonces, del miedo yo nunca hablé a la policía, nunca dije nada. Y no decía, ni a mis padres a nadie[sic] sabía yo al infierno que yo vivía en esas cuatro paredes. . . yo no sabía, yo estaba recién llegado [sic] este país, no sabía el sistema de este país, cómo funciona. Como usted sabe, en otros países un tema así es bien difícil de que lo tomen en cuenta. Entonces yo pensé, como me decía, que tú eres una indocumentada, tu no eres una don nadie aquí, nadie te va a hacer caso. He aquí yo te voy a quitar el niño. Tú te vas a ir del niño, de mí mis apellidos y todo. Entonces yo el miedo a que él me haga eso. Yo nunca hablé. (I lived through violence while I was pregnant, he would always threaten me and because of fear, I did not call, I wouldn’t say anything because he would tell me that he was going to take my son away. ‘You are not a doctor, you are a nobody, you are not good at anything, you are a no one and you will be sent back to your country.’ So, because of that fear, I never called the police, I never said anything. I wouldn’t tell my parents, nobody. Nobody knew the hell I was living in within these four walls. . . I didn’t know, I was new to the country, I didn’t know how the system worked. But like, you know, in other countries a topic like this is difficult to believe. I thought, since he told me, ‘you’re undocumented, you’re nobody, no one is going to believe you. I am going to take our son and you’ll lose our son and my last name, and everything.’ So, it was the fear that he would do that to me. I never called.)

Gender Role Beliefs and Expectations

The fourth major theme related to help-seeking barriers for Latinx IPH survivors was gender role beliefs and expectations. This theme comprised gender-based attitudes within Latinx communities that prevented survivors and IPH victims from engaging in formal help-seeking behaviors. Key informants and listening session participants noted how these beliefs are entrenched in family systems, communities, and culture, and function as a mechanism to keep victims in high-risk abusive relationships. A listening session participant, for example, described how the notion about keeping the family together can stop individuals from seeking help:

Este, que es verdad, la cultura latina es verdad que es la familia, se queda junta, ¿verdad? Está el hombre, la mujer o mujer y marido, ¿verdad? Hay familias latinas que todavía no creen en el divorcio, ¿verdad? Y este, también está, en verdad, los efectos de trauma. Lo que es el síndrome de Stockholm. No sé si hay traducción, ¿verdad? Pero amar al abusador, que a veces nosotros crecemos en nuestros hogares así ¿verdad? Vemos violencia en nuestros hogares y aprendemos a seguir viviendo. Amamos a nuestras familias, aunque sean abusadores, ¿verdad? Entonces, ya siendo adulto, uno en su propio hogar, en su propio matrimonio, sigue repitiendo lo mismo, ¿verdad? Aunque esta persona me hace daño, lo amo y me voy a quedar aquí, ¿verdad? (Another thing I want to bring to light is the other side of the coin. In Latino culture, the family stays together, right? The husband and wife, right? There are still Latino families that do not believe in divorce. And there is also the effects of trauma. That being Stockholm syndrome, I do not know how to translate that. We love our abuser that oftentimes we grow up with. We see violence in our homes and learn to keep living. We love our family despite being abusers, right? Now as adults, in our own homes, in our own marriages, the same thing happens right? Even though this person is harming me, I love them, and I am going to stay, right?)

Findings from participants illustrated how gendered beliefs are passed down through families with histories of IPV. These beliefs prevent family and informal support systems from encouraging Latinx women experiencing high-risk IPV to access formal services. Gender role beliefs are so entrenched that they can also impede communication about safety with both formal and informal supports. Cultural beliefs about family can lead to shame and discomfort, and ultimately leave Latinx survivors coping on their own. One listening session participant described a case where a Latina woman’s family was unaware of the violence that ended in IPH:

de hecho, fue hace poco, dos años, pero bien extraño porque la persona se le dio ayuda anteriormente, pero quizás ella pasó todo este tipos [sic] de barreras que ella guardó en silencio todo lo que estaba pasando. Y cuando decidió salir de esta relación, ella, fue, ella, la mató. La persona fue hace dos años y ella estuvo en los programas de (nombre de organización). Se le ayudó con muchas cosas. Me imagino que lo deben de conocer, pero desafortunadamente cuando ella decidió, años después que había salido de acá, siguió en esa relación de abuso y cuando decidió dejarlo fue cuando la persona la mató y se suicidó. Eso llega a pasar esto y cuando nos enteramos y se llamó a la mamá, la familia y todo, nadie sabía nada, nadie sabía que ella estaba pasando violencia doméstica porque ella nunca mencionó por lo mismo, por la misma cultura que tenemos. La familia latina permanece unida, no dice nada, no pasa nada y al final murió. (Yes actually, a while ago, two years ago, but it was strange because that person had gotten help previously, but perhaps she was experiencing a host of barriers to get help and she kept everything to herself. When she decided to end the relationship, she was killed. This person was two years ago, and she was involved in programs at (participating organization’s name). She received a lot of help. I imagine you all may know her, but unfortunately, when she decided, a year after leaving our program, she remained in the relationship and when she finally decided to leave him, is when that person killed her and committed suicide after. That happened and we found out and called her mom, her family and no one knew anything, no one knew that she was a victim of domestic violence, she never said anything because of the culture we have. The Latino family stays together, she didn’t say anything, and she died.)

Lack of Culturally Sensitive Services

Interview and listening sessions participants shared that if Latinx IPH survivors did access formal services, these resources (i.e., police, courts, victim service agencies) frequently lacked cultural relevance, which in turn, presented as a barrier to successful service utilization. Several survivor and advocate participants identified language as a primary shortcoming in terms of culturally sensitive services. One participant described the importance of Spanish language access for service provision for Latinx IPH survivors:

Ok, pues ellos al momento en que pueden tener ese recurso en su idioma, que se sienten entendidas, valoradas, saber que lo que están leyendo es algo que pueden entender, que pueden comprender, que han encontrado esa luz de esperanza, de saber que están entendiendo lo que realmente ellas están necesitando. Por eso es importante esos recursos en nuestro idioma. (Ok, in the moment that they can have resources in their language, that they feel understood, valued, understand what they are reading and comprehend what is going on, they find that ray of hope and know they are understanding what they really need. That is why resources in our language are important.)

The lack of language access speaks to shortcomings in culturally sensitive services for Latinx IPH survivors, however findings also revealed the need for culturally sensitive services in other languages. With the framework of intersectionality, participants identified the diversity of language needs to facilitate help-seeking for Latinx IPH survivors, including Mam, Q’eqchi, K’iche, and English in Puerto Rico. An indigenous listening session participant explained her experience with culturally insensitive services in her home country and the U.S.:

Yo llamé a la policía allá en Guatemala, pero nunca me nunca llegaron y nunca me escucharon. Y otro porque allá solo hablan español y yo no hablo nada de español, sólo hablo Mam. Entonces nunca, nunca me hicieron nada, nunca me hicieron caso, nada. (I called the police, but they never came and never listened to me. Another thing is because over there they only speak Spanish and I don’t speak any Spanish, just Mam. So, they never did anything, no case, anything.)

This broader theme also revealed an absence of culturally competent victim services informed by the Latinx identity and culture. Several interview and listening session participants echoed that when services are not culturally competent, Latinx IPH survivors cannot be adequately supported. A culturally informed lens for Latinx IPH intervention was described as including cultural empathy, storytelling, and treating survivors like family. Participants emphasized that the impact of services is greater when they are culturally appropriate. One participant described the significance of culturally informed services for Latinx IPH survivors:

Cuando las personas reciben asesoría o ayuda culturalmente con lo que ellas se sienten compatibles, es básico para que ellas puedan salir adelante. Porque en los shelters que hoy reciben, no tienen terapia, digamos, o sea, otros no tienen esa misma empatía cuando no son culturalmente entendidas. Es muy diferente, como lo puede ver un anglosajón, como lo puede ver una persona latina, porque sabe cómo es la cultura. Eso es bien importante, que las personas reciban esa ayuda, porque es como lo dijo (nombre), se sienten empoderadas, se sienten en familia, y los latinos somos mucho de familia. Hay personas que podemos hablar, hablar, hablar, hablar y otras personas que dices OK, ve al grano, dime lo que quieres. ¿Qué necesitas? Lo primero, lo que quiero escuchar. Y los latinos no, los latinos somos de contar historias, ¿no? Entonces por eso es importante que las personas que reciban esa ayuda, ese soporte de empatía con su cultura es muy, muy importante para que puedan salir adelante también. (When people receive advocacy or help culturally informed, they will feel compatible, it is basically essential to move forward. There are shelters that don’t have therapy, let’s say, the same empathy to make them feel culturally understood. It is very different for white victims, the way a Latina victim interprets it, because of culture. It is especially important for them to receive this help like (name) said, to feel empowered, to feel like they are with family, us Latinos are very much family oriented. There are people who can talk, and talk, and talk, and talk and then they are greeted with okay, tell me what you want, tell me what you need? That is the first thing they hear. And Latinos, we like to tell stories, right? So that is why it is very important for people to receive help and support with cultural empathy, it is very important to help them move forward.)

Family Concerns

The final major theme related to help-seeking barriers for Latinx IPH survivors was identified as family concerns. Participants across interview and listening sessions highlighted a variety of family centered considerations that affected whether Latinx IPH survivors engaged in formal help seeking or remained in high-risk relationships including distress about single parenting, the overall well-being of their children, preventing further trauma, and concerns for criminal justice repercussions for their abuser. Participants noted how some Latinx IPH survivors do not engage in help-seeking because they don’t want to escalate the situation and harm their children’s parent who is still their family:

A mí lo que me detuvo fueron mis hijos, porque yo, la verdad, si quería llamar a la policía, pero ellos me dijeron que no. Obviamente, pues era su padre y pues yo los entiendo porque iban a sentir feo, que eh, mirad que la policía se lo llevara. Y esto fue lo que me detuvo a mis hijos. (What stopped me were my children, because honestly, I wanted to call the police, but they told me not to. Obviously, he was their father and I understand because they were going to feel ugly seeing the police take him away. This is what stopped me, my children.)

For transgender Latinx participants, this theme demonstrated how families of origin often were the first to perpetuate violence. Findings underscored how survivors experienced family shunning, being kicked out of homes, and verbal and emotional abuse. As a result of these pathways, transgender Latinas were socially isolated and experienced heightened vulnerability. Participants described how the lack of family support resulted in remaining in abusive relationships to have some form of refuge and support—despite experiencing abuse.

“Cuando a mí mi familia me dice lo que me hizo, yo me refugié en el amor, porque cuando te ves desolada te ves devastada, sin familia, escuchando lo que tu propia familia te está diciendo y te está discriminando. Buscas desesperadamente el amor o la compañía de un hombre. Lamentablemente mis dos relaciones en las dos relaciones que tuve hasta ahorita, yo tengo miedo de volver a enamorarme. . . Imagínate como refugiarte en un hombre que supuestamente te dice que te ama, que te quiere, que te va a valorar, que te va a respetar. Y cuando te das cuenta de que esa persona quiere gobernar tu vida y que en vez de protegerte te está destruyendo y te está usando y te está utilizando y está jugando con tus sentimientos más que nada y tu de tonta, dándole, ofreciéndole, aprendiéndolo, dando casi la vida por ellos.” (When my family said and did what they did to me, I sought refuge in love, because when you are desolate, devasted, without family, listening to what your own family is saying about you and is discriminating against you. You look desperately for love in another man. Sadly, due to my last two relationships, I am afraid to fall in love again. . . Imagine looking for refuge in a man who supposedly loves you and values and respects you. And then you realize this person wants to control your life and instead of protecting you, they are destroying you and are using you and playing with your feelings more than anything, and after you did everything possible for them.)

Participants also viewed support for IPH survivors who are mothers as limited. This was especially the case for Latinx IPH survivors who are mothers that do not have support in childcare or the financial ability to access safe shelter or housing for their families—underscoring the compounding nature of barriers. Participants noted Section 8 housing as unsafe for children and that daycare needs may prevent Latinas with children from seeking help from the criminal justice system or other formal supports.

Es una situación bien difícil porque tú sientes que un momento vas a perder la vida y tus hijos. Y yo. Cuando yo tenía dos niños y estaba pequeñito, uno tenía uno, tenía cuatro años y el otro tenía alrededor de dos añitos, o sea, eran bebé. Me necesitaban en ese instante para todo, porque son niños. Pero es muy difícil y solo, y solo te queda decir, ‘Señor, estoy en tus manos.’ (It is a very difficult situation because you feel that in one moment you are going to lose your life and your children. Me too. When I had two children and they were little, one was one year old, the other was four years old and the other was around two years old, that is, they were babies. They needed me at that moment for everything, because they are children. But it is very difficult and at that moment you can only say ‘Lord, I am in your hands.’)