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Domestic Violence as A Human Rights Issue: The Case of Immigrant Latinos

NCJ Number
181415
Journal
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: May 1999 Pages: 107-133
Author(s)
Julia L. Perilla
Date Published
May 1999
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article examines domestic violence from a human rights perspective.
Abstract
The article used the writings of several Latin American and Latino social scientists as a framework within which to explore the antecedents, dynamics and effects of domestic abuse. It brings to bear the historical, philosophical, cultural, social, spiritual and political realities of Latino immigrants in the United States. From that ecological perspective the article considers universal and culture-specific elements of the Latino experience. It also uses the idea of concientizacion (consciousness) to delineate levels of awareness and responsibility necessary to break the intergenerational transmission of domestic violence in this population. Concientizacion for Latino men requires recognition and acceptance of the fundamental human rights of their partners and children to a life free of terror, violence, and abuse. A human rights stance regarding domestic abuse must include analysis of elements in the environment of people affected by the violence and must be accompanied by a recreation of societal structures, laws and attitudes that impinge on fundamental human functioning. References

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