Women don’t always leave their husband even if being severely abused

• This can be due to having a lot of children and not having the means to take care of them.
• Financially  women may be cut out of all financial information as well as not being capable to get a job

In these cases no one can take care of their children and thus the women stay with the men

• Also, due to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East it is especially hard for women to return back to their families nor can the families support them as many are becoming refuges like in Yemen, something AAFSC has been seeing

There is also a large concern of family honor and shame. Leaving the husband may bring about:

• Shame and awkwardness from the community
  
• Fear of ostracism by the community, isolation

This is important because Arab communities are very close and many women may not have any support of friends outside their own community.

• Fear of legal status

There is also a fear of losing legal status. May immigrants are  not proficient in English and are unaware of their rights and services available to them.

AAFSC  described challenges with women leaving or divorcing their husbands stating that

“A husband may say that their wife can leave and they’ll wash their hands of them and not even pay the child support. So, women stay with the men knowing that they will receive no help once they leave the abuser, and their children will suffer and that is why women have a hard time leaving”.

Women who attempt to abandon their DV situation are faced with numerous obstacles and challenges with service delivery systems including emergency services to identify domestic violence cases, limited shelters that respond to cultural sensitivity.

• In cases of undocumented and illegal immigrant battered women are also financially dependent on their husbands and cannot leave the home to seek out services.
• Language- non English speakers have a hard time reaching legal services which language resources.
• Lack of general knowledge about the existing services and rights

Experiences by women who are trying to the leave the abuser

• In the case of the Yemeni immigrants at AAFSC- many are illiterate in both English and Arabic and thus cannot find a job or make connections outside the home. The husbands can exhibit abuse by not allowing the women who are willing to learn, get an education or leave the home
• Many women do not know how to navigate the legal system
• Lack of trust in the legal system
• Lack of jobs skills
• Economic consequences resulting from deportation of the head of household