ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that effective advocacy and intervention for battered women should include developing collaborative working relationships among the various professions involved in addressing battered immigrants' plight. Battered immigrant women face tremendous barriers to accessing social services and using the US criminal justice system to respond to the violence in their lives. The immigration context of battered immigrant women presents unique problems vis-vis accessing social services or seeking help from the justice system. Access to information has always been a major factor impeding women's utilization of support services or appeals to justice. Immigrant victims in general, and battered immigrant women in particular, are reluctant to report crime and cooperate with authorities due to an intricate combination of cultural, social, and legal reasons. The professionals responding to the survey provided guidelines and suggestions about optimal methods of handling battered immigrant issues. They also expanded upon the protections and services they would recommend for battered immigrant women.
