Protections in the 1994 legislation were intended to remove barriers that kept battered immigrant women and children locked in abusive relationships. A 1992 study shows that to prevent their immigrant wives from reporting domestic violence, men may threaten to take the children away from the United States, fail to file papers to legalize the wife's immigration status or threaten to report her to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to get her deported. The current version of the legislation would provide these immigrant domestic violence victims with more protection against deportation. There also are special needs to consider in the Orthodox community. Orthodox women may be even less inclined to seek help than other Jewish women because they are under more pressure to keep their family together, plus finding the support services to fit their religious needs is difficult, say those who work with domestic violence victims.
Many Jewish women feel a heavy responsibility for the concept of shalom bayit, or peace in the home.
They feel as if they have sole responsibility for keeping the peace and promoting love, caring, nurturing and understanding within the family, says the Web site of Jewish Women International. If women cannot fulfill this role because of an abusive relationship, they may feel inadequate and may not admit the violence. Jews also tend to stay in abusive relationships on average seven years longer than non-Jews, Sternoff said. For years, domestic violence was not recognized as a real problem in the Jewish community, but things have started to change, said Jody Rabhan of the National Council of Jewish Women. UJA-Federation's Altman agrees, saying there has been a transformation in the Jewish community during the last five years.