Policy Analysis

Problem Statement: What sustainable measures should be implemented by Mujeres Latinas in 2021 to support community members who are victims of violence?

Mujeres Latinas enAcción is the longest standing Latina-led organization in the U.S, as it was birth in 1973. For about three decades now, this organization has provided community services to support Latinas and their families as they heal and thrive within their programs in the greater Chicagoland area. The mission of Mujeres Latinas enAcción is "to empower Latinas by providing services which mirror their values and culture and by being an advocate on the issues that affect their lives." The organization's vision is to build strong, energetic Chicagoland communities- one woman and one family at a time. The organization has three core objectives which are: (1) advocacy, (2) gender violence, and (3) leadership and community engagement. The organization is involved in offering crisis interventions (i.e., 24-hour crisis line, counseling, therapy, etc.) for gender-based violence victims. The organization is engaged in leadership and community engagement as it offers training programs, parent support, and leadership skills development (Mujeres Latinas enAcción, 2020). Mujeres advocates for improving the quality of life of survivors of domestic violence and advocacy.

To mitigate and support domestic violence victims, I will be partnering with Mujeres Latinas enAcción to help women and children in the Southside and Southwest of Chicago. Domestic violence is a significant public health problem in the U.S. and specifically within the state of Illinois. In the United States, nearly 1 in 5 women have experienced severe physical violence from intimate partners in their lifetime (National Network To End Domestic Violence, 2020). Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 22% of the Latinx community had requested domestic violence services in Illinois, with a 5 percent increase in the late 2010s. (Houston-Kolnik et al., 2019). Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has played a considerable role in increasing domestic violence cases, being that the pandemic had confined most couples to stay at home. It is also evident that calls to Illinois-based domestic violence hotlines had experienced usage increases as high as 32 percent from last year, with text-based services seeing increases of 3,000 percent compared to the previous year (McKinney, 2020). Given the increased domestic violence service use in Illinois during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing struggle for domestic violence service. I will assist in bringing options that could be used and implemented to support domestic violence victims in the Southside and Southwest of Chicago.

Factors affecting policy development and implementation are stigma, level of education, income, and employment status. According to a research report by Abd, Aziz et al., a low level of education has been identified as the primary predictor of domestic violence against women. To help mitigate the low level of education among women in the Southside and Southwest of Chicago, I will provide an option to work with stakeholders to implement policies that will provide adult education and ESL classes in the community for women. Women who are educated and aware of domestic violence can call for help when faced with domestic violence compared to women without education and the awareness of how to seek help when faced with domestic violence abuse. (Abd and Azix et al., 2018).

The next policy option I will recommend is addressing the socio-economic status of women who are victims of domestic violence abuse. Options provided will be partnering with stakeholders to implement programs that will empower women through the network of agencies that will assist women in applying for jobs and programs that will give different acquisition skills set training like comitology and fashion schools to women. Through this agency's assistance, women will be able to fend for themselves and their families. It is evident that women with lower income directly become economically dependent on their partners, limiting their negotiating power and their ability to diminish physical violence. Furthermore, women living in poverty are more likely to experience violence because deprivation is psychologically linked to stress (Abd and Azix et al., 2018).

According to the research report, many victims of domestic abuse are always ashamed to speak out. The majority of victims are sensitive to judgment as they fear others, whether they are suffering physical abuse, emotional abuse, or both. These victims fear that reporting the perpetrator's behavior would involve revealing embarrassing and humiliating details. As such, they would prefer never to discuss, especially if they have been enduring this treatment for years (Patrick, 2019). To help mitigate this fear among women who are victims of domestic violence, I will provide the option of partnering with stakeholders and training community health workers to create more awareness about domestic violence to women through community engagement programs in the community. I will develop fliers and banners with an overview of domestic violence and how to navigate around resources available in the community and call for help when needed.

The recommended policy option will be working with policymakers and lobbyists to implement more funding to sustain the project. Also, the involvement of trained community health workers (CHWs) who will be engaged in influencing the growth of individual and community members by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support, and advocacy (Ravneet and Suneela, 2008).

The policy action I would recommend is prohibiting all people convicted of violent misdemeanors not to posse guns. It is evident that people convicted of a violent misdemeanor are at an increased risk of committing future violent crimes, thereby prohibiting them from gun possession might reduce the rates of violence (Geller, 2019).

Stake Holders

1. Families and communities served by Mujeres

Economic Status: Victims of domestic violence struggle to hold a job as they are not mentally stable because of the trauma faced by violence. Staying without a job disproportionately burdens their low socio-economic status (WHO, 2021). These predictors of domestic violence affect and reflect on the population served by Mujeres, which will cause the people to feel the effect of domestic violence within the community.

Practical: It would be applicable for Mujeres to mitigate domestic violence among women and children in the community they serve. These will aid in improving the physical and mental health of domestic violence survivors.

Cultural: Acknowledging norms and beliefs of victims of domestic violence is pivotal in mitigating domestic violence trauma among women and children. Mujeres can minimize these issues by conducting thorough background information to understand its client's culture and beliefs better and understand the right approach to assist their clients.

2. The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ADV)

Social: It is evident that domestic violence victims struggle with mental health and other social issues. It is essential to consider a sustainable measure to implement to assist this victim, especially during the pandemic where domestic violence cases are on the rise across Chicago (McKinney, 2020)

Practical: what are suitable measures that the Illinois Coalition against Domestic Violence can use to address the needs of domestic violence victims? It is vital to collaborate with other community organizations like Family Rescue, Connection for Abused Women and Their Children to assess the best practical way to assist victims of domestic violence in the community. Supporting these victims with resources like referrals for counseling sections, therapy sessions, yoga classes might help victims heal faster.

Economic: Mujere's main goal is gender violence, advocacy, and community engagement, and this organization has continued to serve Chicagoans for many decades now. How is this organization funded? Are they government organizations interested in financing this organization to continue to serve Chicagoans?

3. Chicago Police Department 14th District

Legal: Mujeres clients are mostly Latinas who may be hesitant to call the police in any violent situation because of the fear of their immigration status. Victims may prefer to remain silent than undergo any policy involvement that might require paperwork where their group might be asked to fear deportation. The organization must conduct a thorough background check to ensure that policy involvement will not share the victim's information with ICE or any immigration officials.

Social: women with lower income directly become economically dependent on their partners, limiting their negotiating power and their ability to diminish physical violence. Furthermore, women living in poverty are more likely to experience violence because deprivation is psychologically linked to stress (Abd and Azix et al., 2018). Victims of domestic violence are often stigmatized as the support to enable them to fend for themselves and family. Being that most of them are not legally qualified to work in the U.S. It is crucial to ensure this population can financially capable of their overall wellbeing.

Political: Looking at the Joe Biden administration, it is essential to look at how this new admiration is ready to tackle domestic violence at the federal level and what options they are willing to provide to the state government to tackle domestic violence at the state level.

4. Alderman or State Representative in Chicago

Political: It is evident that the pandemic had increase domestic violence victims and as such rate of vulnerability has increased as victims are subjected to several issues. What policy measures are policymakers putting in place to better assist the growing numbers of victims of domestic violence?

Economic: It is crucial that the funding of Mujures be addressed and measured to sustain its funding are considered given the fact that this organization plays a pivotal role in the vulnerable population.

Social: it is crucial to evaluate the services provided to victims of domestic violence. This evaluation will enable organization staffs to assess to see if there is any form of bias that might occur in terms of services rendered to the population served

5. Local Yoga Session in the Community

Economic: Mujeres Collaborations with local yoga programs in the community might help heal domestic violence individuals. However, the cost of paying to provide these services to their clients might be challenging to the organization. How can mujures source these extra funds to provide these services to its clients?

Practical: What are suitable measures to implement to fund this additional program? Are they policymakers or lobbyists ready to partner and source funds to sustain these yoga services provided to clients?

Social: It is essential to conduct interviews with clients to understand the social issues to enable the organization to know what kind of resources and programs might best fit their needs. This is because the organization might have the impression that providing yoga sessions to its clients might help mitigate the issue. This assumption might not be accurate as different clients might heal faster than other programs.

Policy Options And Measures

The Southside and Southwest of Chicago have reported a high rate of domestic violence. Due to the pandemic, the rate of domestic violence victims has increased from 2019-2021. Domestic violence has been demonstrated, and stakeholders' needs have been identified to understand the sustainable measures to mitigate domestic violence issues in these communities. The following five options are presented for consideration;

Partner with family and community members served by Mujeres: Mujeres might want to partner with community members, relatives, and loved ones to mitigate issues faced by domestic violence victims. This option is practically and economically feasible because it is evident that the support and love showed by relatives and loved ones of domestic violence might help victims heal faster and better. However, relatives and loved ones of domestic violence victims might not want to get involved with the issue as they fear that they might be stigmatized. Also, they may not be able to be reached through the mujures outreach team.

The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ADV):Mujeres might want to partner with stakeholders like ICADV with the objectives of mitigating domestic violence issues in the Southwest and South Side of Chicago. This partnership is practically and economically feasible. However, they might be issues about funding as one organization might be more funded than the other and, as such, might limit the capability of the services the organization without much funds might have to offer to community members.

Chicago Police Department 14th District: Having a legal involvement like the police department is practically feasible. However, Mujeres might have a hard time convincing individuals of domestic violence who are undocumented that their information will not be reported to ICE or any immigration body. They may fear deportation and refused to get the help needed.

Alder man or State Representative in Illinois: Mujeres might partner with Alderman or State Representative to implement a policy that will help mitigate domestic violence issues. This partnership is practically and economically feasible. However, it might be difficult for these policymakers to convince other policymakers to see the need to be passed, and as such, they might vote no to the policy.

Local Yoga Session in the Community: Mujeres might partner with the local yoga session to help its clients. This option might be practically and economically feasible. However, community members might not be comfortable attending this session because they might fear being stigmatized by other community members who might be aware of their ordeal.