It has been quite an education, not only for law enforcement but for counselors, clergy, social workers and others dealing with family violence in the mosaic that makes up today's California. Family violence workers have had to learn how to deal with languages from cultures as disparate as Hmong and Afghan. They have had to find ways to convince newcomers from elsewhere that family violence is not tolerated in the United States, that ways of their old countries are unacceptable here. And they have had to brainstorm inventive methods of even getting people to listen to their message. The only person it is acceptable to talk to is in the family or your clergy person.
Workers have to literally trick some groups into coming in to talk about the problem.
When we go out to a migrant farm camp and talk about support groups we call them a woman's social group. We might call them a sewing group or something else. Or we'll say we're going to talk about immigration issues and everybody will show up. But if you say you're going to do a presentation on domestic violence, no one will come because it's not acceptable in their culture. Learning the intricacies of different cultures when it comes to family violence is a tricky business, however, and often takes years.