Since summer of 2000 the state of Arizona has begun addressing the needs of
battered immigrant women in terms of safety and access to crucial legal,
health and human services, to ensure that they will be met as mandated under
the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Since 2002 the "Southern Arizona
Battered Immigrant Women Project" has been funded through the US Department
of Justice Violence Against Women Office to lay the groundwork for:1)
education, outreach, information and awareness, 2) training, 3) improved
services, and 4)resource development. The first phase began when Pima,
Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties each formed a Battered Immigrant Women Task
Force charged with developing a multidisciplinary training curriculum for law
enforcement, legal services, victim services and other health and human
service agencies and organizations. In 2004 the project expanded to include
Pinal, Yuma, Graham and Greenlee Counties. During the life of this project
I have continued to act as a Co-PI, contracted project consultant, for the
Governor's Division for Prevention of Family Violence (GDPFV) through funding
from the U.S. Department of Justice Rural Domestic Violence and Child
Victimization Grant. I have provided technical assistance to county Battered
Immigrant Women Task Forces, implemented service provider training needs
assessments, in addition to developing and implementing in-depth interviews
for women who have attempted to obtain their VAWA approval letters with the
intent of providing feedback to key service providers for quality improvement
and training recommendations, and the subsequent development of a model
protocol toolkit for coordinated community response to immigrant victims of
violence. In 2011 the toolkit went live on the Center for Rural Health
website.