Disclosure from the victims against perpetrators is complex. While victims usually don't have access to resources that can help them while dealing with intimate partner violence, there are fluctuating percentages of Black women and Black Caribbean women from all over who experience emotional abuse, physical, or sexual abuse. Only about 57% of women actually requested aid with their situation (Lucea et al, 2013) Intimate partner violence remains yet a major public health issue in the United States, where at least a third of women have experienced this trauma in their lifetime.
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Black women deal with the consequences of IPV on a more severe level than any of their counterparts:"African American women are disproportionately affected by IPV in the United States, with 43.7% of Black women reporting rape, physical violence, or stalking by a partner, compared to 34.6% of White women. In addition, a study conducted in 16 U.S. states and two territories found that 22.5% of women of African descent in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) have been victims of IPV" (Lucea et al, 2013). Whether it is sexual assault by their partners or spouses or actual physical abuse, it is just another cause of severe trauma and disrespect to the Black woman. Intimate partner femicide rates are high and the ones who survive the ordeal have to come to terms with this episode and learn to cope.
Women access resources to help them through different pathways, such as shelters or informal resources such as friends or family (Lucea et al, 2013). For women of color, informal resources, which could include friends, family, or other community outreach programs, are most used. African American women tend to use these networks when the violence in their relationship or home has escalated tremendously. |