The Experiences of Underserved Minority Battered Women

This qualitative study was informed by Feminist Standpoints Theory. It explored the experiences of underserved minority battered women and sought to understand how social systems of power and oppression shape these experiences. Statistical data indicate that minority women are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence, yet less served by existing services for survivors of domestic violence. Despite a vast body of research about violence against women, knowledge about the unique experiences and needs of marginalized women, particularly those who are not served by domestic violence services, is limited. This study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to document the experiences of a non-random, convenience sample of seventeen black women who reside in inner city minority communities. All the women experienced physical abused by at least one intimate partner, although several of them tried to seek help for the abuse in the past, none was a recipient of domestic violence services at the time of the interviews. The interviews were audio taped, transcribed and content analyzed to identify themes across cases that depict the women's experience of their external environment, their emotional world and their self perception.;The three interrelated primary findings of the study are the sense of living with constant abuse that characterizes the lived experience of the women, profound loneliness that marks their emotional world, and a duality in their self-perception of feeling simultaneously unworthy and strong. These findings are discussed in the context of the women's social location at the intersection of the interlocking systems of class, race, and gender oppressions. Implications for theory, practice, policy, and further research are offered.