Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2025
Understanding the Impact of the Sociopolitical Environment on Decision-Making for Reporting Intimate Partner Violence to Police Among Latina/e Survivors in Baltimore,Maryland: A Qualitative Study
Latina/e women in the United States experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at lower rates than women of other ethnicities but worse IPV-related outcomes, potentially due to differences in access to support services. Anecdotal evidence during the first Trump campaign and presidency raised concerns about the impact of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy on IPV reporting to police among Latina/e IPV survivors. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the potential chilling effect of the sociopolitical environment during this time on IPV reporting to police among Latina/e survivors in the United States. We recruited English and Spanish-speaking adult Latina/e survivors living in Baltimore, Maryland, who experienced IPV during the first Trump campaign and administration (N = 16). Qualitative interviews followed a semi-structured guide to explore IPV reporting to police and the impact of the first Trump presidency. Survivors felt that anti-Latine discrimination increased during the Trump presidency, and most but not all women endorsed a specific chilling effect of the Trump administration on their IPV reporting to police. All women described a persistent chilling environment in which lack of formal documentation status engendered fear of their deportation or deportation of abusive partners on whom they were economically dependent, which hindered IPV reporting to police. Several described how this environment transcends the increased anti-immigrant rhetoric and immigrant enforcement of any one presidential administration. Despite these barriers, women described how time in the United States grew their social networks, which increased their self-efficacy in reporting by sensitizing them to their rights as survivors and to norms that were less permissive of IPV. Results demonstrate how the sociopolitical environment influences Latina/e women’s individual-level decisions to report IPV to police and the need for a tailored approach to address salient barriers to help-seeking, including fear of deportation and economic dependence on abusers.
AcevedoM. J. (2000). Battered immigrant Mexican women’s perspectives regarding abuse and help-seeking. Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 8(3–4), 243–282.
2.
AldarondoE.KantorG. K.JasinskiJ. L. (2002). A risk marker analysis of wife assault in Latino families. Violence Against Women, 8(4), 429–454.
3.
AmmarN. H.OrloffL. E.DuttonM. A.Aguilar-HassG. (2005). Calls to police and police response: A case study of Latina immigrant women in the USA. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 7(4), 230–244. https://doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2005.7.4.230
4.
Amuedo-DorantesC.Arenas-ArroyoE. (2019). Immigration enforcement, police trust and domestic violence (Institute of Labor Economics Discussion Paper Series, 43).
BaranA.LevinC. F. (2020, June20). In harm’s way: The impact of president Trump’s actions on immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. Immigration Legal Resource Center; ASISTA.
7.
BecerraD.CastilloJ.Silva ArciniegaM. R.Ghosn NaddyM. B.NguyenV. (2018). Increased immigration enforcement and perceived discrimination among Latino immigrants. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 45, 39.
8.
BecerraD.HernandezG.PorchasF.CastilloJ.NguyenV.Perez GonzálezR. (2020). Immigration policies and mental health: Examining the relationship between immigration enforcement and depression, anxiety, and stress among Latino immigrants. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 29(1–3), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2020.1731641
9.
BernsteinH.GonzalezD.KarpmanM.ZuckermanS. (2019). One in seven adults in immigrant families reported avoiding public benefit programs in 2018. Urban Institute.
10.
BevilacquaK. G.ArciniegasS.PageK.SteinbergA. K.StellmannJ.Flores-MillerA.WirtzA. L. (2022). Contexts of violence victimization and service-seeking among Latino/a/x immigrant adults in the United States: A qualitative study (SSRN Scholarly Paper 4217709). https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4217709
11.
BonomiA. E.AndersonM. L.CannonE. A.SlesnickN.RodriguezM. A. (2009). Intimate partner violence in Latina and non-Latina women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(1), 43–48.
12.
CaetanoR.CunradiC. (2003). Intimate partner violence and depression among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. Annals of Epidemiology, 13(10), 661–665.
13.
CokerA. L.SmithP. H.BetheaL.KingM. R.McKeownR. E. (2000). Physical health consequences of physical and psychological intimate partner violence. Archives of Family Medicine, 9(5), 451–457.
14.
CuevasC. A.SabinaC.PicardE. H. (2010). Interpersonal victimization patterns and psychopathology among Latino women: Results from the SALAS study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2(4), 296–306. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020099
15.
de CubaS. E.MillerD. P.RaifmanJ.CuttsD. B.Bovell-AmmonA.FrankD. A.JonesD. K. (2023). Reduced health care utilization among young children of immigrants after Donald Trump’s election and proposed public charge rule. Health Affairs, 1(2), 1–9.
16.
DhingraR.KilbornM.WoldemikaelO. (2022). Immigration policies and access to the justice system: The effect of enforcement escalations on undocumented immigrants and their communities. Political Behavior, 44(3), 1359–1387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09663-w
17.
DuBoisK. O. (2022). Rural isolation, small towns, and the risk of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(5–6), NP2565–NP2587. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520943721
18.
EbertK.OvinkS. M. (2014). Anti-immigrant ordinances and discrimination in new and established destinations. American Behavioral Scientist, 58(13), 1784–1804. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764214537267
FreedmanJ.SahraouiN.TyszlerE. (2022). Gender-based violence as a “consequence of migration”: How culturalist framings of GBV ignore structural violence against migrant women in France. In FreedmanJ.SahraouiN.TastsoglouE. (Eds.), Gender-based violence in migration: Interdisciplinary, feminist and intersectional approaches (pp. 113–134). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07929-0_5
21.
FriedmanA. S.VenkataramaniA. S. (2021). Chilling effects: US immigration enforcement and health care seeking among hispanic adults. Health Affairs, 40(7), 1056–1065. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.02356
22.
GaleN. K.HeathG.CameronE.RashidS.RedwoodS. (2013). Using the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data in multi-disciplinary health research. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 13(1), Article 117. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-13-117
23.
GarciaL.HurwitzE. L.KrausJ. F. (2005). Acculturation and Reported Intimate Partner Violence Among Latinas in Los Angeles. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(5), 569–590. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504271582
24.
GemmillA.CatalanoR.CaseyJ. A.KarasekD.AlcaláH. E.ElserH.TorresJ. M. (2019). Association of preterm births among US Latina women with the 2016 presidential election. JAMA Network Open, 2(7), Article e197084. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.7084
25.
González-GuardaR. M.Florom-SmithA. L.ThomasT. (2011). A syndemic model of substance abuse, intimate partner violence, HIV infection, and mental health among hispanics. Public Health Nursing, 28(4), 366–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1446.2010.00928.x
26.
GoodmarkL. (2020). Reimagining VAWA: Why criminalization is a failed policy and what a non-carceral VAWA could look like. Violence Against Women, 27(1), 84–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220949686
27.
HarrisP. A.TaylorR.MinorB. L.ElliottV.FernandezM.O’NealL.McLeodL.DelacquaG.DelacquaF.KirbyJ. (2019). The REDCap consortium: Building an international community of software platform partners. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 95, Article 103208.
28.
HollidayC. N.KahnG.ThorpeR. J.ShahR.HameeduddinZ.DeckerM. R. (2020). Racial/ethnic disparities in police reporting for partner violence in the national crime victimization survey and survivor-led interpretation. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 7(3), 468–480. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00675-9
29.
Hurtado-de-MendozaA.GonzalesF. A.SerranoA.KaltmanS. (2014). Social isolation and perceived barriers to establishing social networks among Latina immigrants. American Journal of Community Psychology, 53(1), 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9619-x
LeemisR.FriarN.KhatiwadaS.KresnowM.SmithS.CaslinS.BasileK. (2022). The National intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2016/2017 report on intimate partner violence. National Centers for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
32.
LeisenringA. (2012). Victims’ perceptions of police response to intimate partner violence. Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations, 12(2), 146–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332586.2012.728926
Marrs FuchselC. L.BrummettA. (2020). Intimate partner violence prevention and intervention group-format programs for immigrant Latinas: A systematic review. Journal of Family Violence, 36, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00160-6
MessingJ. T.BecerraD.Ward-LasherA.AndroffD. K. (2015). Latinas’ perceptions of law enforcement: Fear of deportation, crime reporting, and trust in the system. Affilia, 30(3), 328–340. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109915576520
37.
Morales-CamposD. Y.CasillasM.McCurdyS. A. (2009). From isolation to connection: Understanding a support group for Hispanic women living with gender-based violence in Houston, Texas. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 11(1), 57–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-008-9153-3
38.
MowderD.LutzeF.NamgungH. (2018). Ayúdame! Who can help me? The help-seeking decisions of battered undocumented Latinas. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 16(3), 205–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2018.1498818
39.
MuchowA. N. (2024). Can community policing reduce the chilling effect of immigration enforcement on latinx crime reporting? Evidence from Los Angeles. Crime & Delinquency, 70(6–7), 1759–1782. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221125385
40.
MuchowA. N.Amuedo-DorantesC. (2020). Immigration enforcement awareness and community engagement with police: Evidence from domestic violence calls in Los Angeles. Journal of Urban Economics, 117. Article 103253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2020.103253
41.
NwadiukoJ.GermanJ.ChaplaK.WangF.VenkataramaniM.VaidyaD.PolkS. (2021). Changes in health care use among undocumented patients, 2014–2018. JAMA Network Open, 4(3), Article e210763. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.0763
42.
PittsK. M. (2014). Latina immigrants, interpersonal violence, and the decision to report to police. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(9), 1661–1678. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260513511700
43.
ReinaA. S.LohmanB. J. (2015). Barriers preventing Latina immigrants from seeking advocacy services for domestic violence victims: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Family Violence, 30(4), 479–488.
44.
ReinaA. S.LohmanB. J.MaldonadoM. M. (2013). “He said they’d deport me”: Factors influencing domestic violence help-seeking practices among Latina immigrants. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(4), 593–615. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260513505214
45.
ReinaA. S.MaldonadoM. M.LohmanB. J. (2013). Undocumented Latina networks and responses to domestic violence in a new immigrant gateway: Toward a place-specific analysis. Violence Against Women, 19(12), 1472–1497. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801213517513
46.
SabinaC.CuevasC. A.ZadnikE. (2015). Intimate partner violence among Latino women: Rates and cultural correlates. Journal of Family Violence, 30(1), 35–47.
47.
ShihadehE. S.BarrancoR. E. (2010). Latino immigration, economic deprivation, and violence: Regional differences in the effect of linguistic isolation. Homicide Studies, 14(3), 336–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767910371190
48.
Silva-MartínezE. (2016). “El Silencio”: Conceptualizations of Latina immigrant survivors of intimate partner violence in the Midwest of the United States. Violence Against Women, 5(22), 523–544. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215607357
VargasE. D.JuárezM.SanchezG. R.LivaudaisM. (2019). Latinos’ connections to immigrants: How knowing a deportee impacts Latino health. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 45(15), 2971–2988. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1447365
54.
World Health Organization. (2016). Ethical and safety recommendations for intervention research on violence against women: Building on lessons from the WHO publication putting women first: Ethical and safety recommendations for research on domestic violence against women.
55.
XieM.LynchJ. P. (2017). The effects of arrest, reporting to the police, and victim services on intimate partner violence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 54(3), 338–378.
56.
Yalcinoz-UcanB.TastsoglouE.DawsonM. (2025). Tracing individual experiences to systemic challenges: The (re)production of GBV in migrant women’s experiences in Canada. Frontiers in Sociology, 10, Article 1528525. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2025.1528525
