Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Immigration - Essay Example Wood (2004) sees domestic violence as a ‘crime that does not recognize racial, cultural, or socioeconomic barriers’. In brief, economic, cultural or political development of a given community does not automatically ensure the protection of the rights of women against being the victims of various types of gendered violence. Although domestic violence and other types of violence on women are prevalent among almost all the social groups, its nature and degree are different from community to community. Thus, the violence on immigrant women is so rampant and involves issues and concerns that are radically different from those pertaining to other social sections. It means that the social settings in which an immigrant woman is uniquely placed makes her more vulnerable for being the victim of various types and degrees of sexual and gendered violence than other sections of women citizenry. In addition, the conditions of undocumented immigrant women are even more exploitative and oppressive as they are systemically exempted from the cover of the law of the land. The introduction of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 has marked a turning point on the legal debate over the issue of increasing violence on immigrant women and its social consequences. The merits and drawbacks of the VAWA are on the focus of attention since its very introduction. Demands for amendments to the VAWA have been raised from around the corners for not only making it more effective but also casting off its perceived and real ills. Even, it is possible to identify a ‘VAWA discourse on the violence on immigrant women’ that encompasses almost all the possible aspects of the concerns pertaining to the human rights of immigrant women. The purpose of this paper is to overview the issues of immigration and the violence on immigrant women and analyzes it as a policy matter that must address unique social, political, economic, and cultural factors and include