Our Interview with the American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center (Part 2)

Below is Part 2 of our interview with Brooke Galloway, Development and Policy Director at American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center. Although this final portion of our interview is only one question, I found Brooke’s answer so illuminating and profound that it stood on its own.

What has been the most surprising thing about being a part of this organization?

The most surprising thing about being a part of this organization has been the evident dedication and commitment to ending intimate partner violence from the crisis line staff, crisis line volunteers, outreach volunteers, and the Americans overseas community. The zeal and inspiration for serving this population comes from the strength of AODVC’s visionary leader, Founder, and Executive Director, Paula Lucas.

For 14 years Paula lived what looked like an ideal life as an American overseas: A Newsweek photojournalist husband, worldwide travel, a successful advertising, marketing and PR business and three beautiful sons. She also hid a terrible secret: the children suffered severe child abuse and Paula, horrific domestic violence, at the hands of her husband, making every day a nightmare.
As the violence increased, so did her desperation. In 1997, she finally disclosed the abuse to her brother in California. Her family called the State Department, congress people and senators. Paula went to the American Embassy and pleaded for help. Their efforts were futile.

Finally her chance to escape materialized, thanks to a thief. Robbed of his passport and money on a train in Germany, her husband was locked outside of the country. Paula searched her husband's offices for the children's American passports which her husband had hidden. After a month of searching she was about to give up. In despair, Paula sat sobbing with her face in her hands. That's when she believes a guardian angel pointed her back to a file she had already checked. Inside, there were her children's passports.

Without access to her own money, Paula forged her husband's signature on a check for just enough money to get them to her sister's house in Oregon. She also forged her husband's signature on documents giving her permission to leave the country with the children. She knew if she were caught, she would be put in prison, or worse. But she also knew the possibility of lethality when her husband returned was very high. In the middle of the night, with one suit case and her three children, she took a taxi to the airport in Dubai and prayed. Paula tried not to show her fear as they shuffled through immigration and boarded a flight to New York, and to freedom. Once in New York, the four of them piled onto a train to Oregon, a three day journey.

At her sister's house outside of Portland, Paula's relief was short lived. She found out that even though she, the children, and her husband were all American, he had the right to fight her for jurisdiction and force her to take the boys back to the Middle East - a certain death sentence. In disbelief, she fled her sister's house and went into hiding, living in shelters, on food stamps and welfare while fighting a costly legal battle she never expected to keep her American children in the United States. If she lost, she vowed she would go underground and disappear permanently rather than take her children back. The battle lasted 18 months and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Finally, the Oregon courts ruled that Paula could keep her sons in Oregon. She was granted divorce and custody in September 2000, but no jurisdiction for child support, alimony or court costs. Her husband received supervised visitation of the children.

Despite experiencing homelessness, poverty and extreme debt after years of abuse, Paula felt she had been given a second chance. She resolved to help other abused American women and children around the world so they would not have to go through what she and her children went through. While living in a shelter, Paula founded a non-profit organization, American Women Overseas, and began her work.

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To find out more information on how you can help fight Domestic Violence Overseas, please visit - American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

Help Fight Domestic Violence Overseas

Think there's nothing you can do to help fight Domestic Violence Overseas in 1 Minute?

Starring - Alicia Arinella & Jack Halaby
Written by -  Jessica Arinella & Julie Tortorici
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center, www.866uswomen.org

Special Thanks: Brooke Galloway and everyone at Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

An Interview With American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center

Since October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the staff at “What You Can Do” felt it was important to dedicate a week’s worth of videos to combating and preventing domestic violence. In researching organizations for the videos, I came upon the American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center, which serves American victims of domestic violence living overseas. The need would seem obvious and yet, I suppose it was naivety or sheer ignorance that prevented my own awareness of the issue. What does a domestic violence victim do when they are not in their native country, are perhaps unaware of their legal rights in their adopted land and are without a support system? These are some of the questions I asked Brooke Galloway, Development and Policy Director at American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

Below is PART 1 of our interview.

1. American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center caters to American victims of domestic violence who live overseas. On your website, you mention that this group of people is under-served or under-represented, can you talk about that a little bit. Why is that the case?

In this era of globalization, there has been an influx in bi-national marriages, overseas assignments, and study abroad programs. There are an estimated 5.25 million Americans living overseas. If these Americans were in one state, it would be the 17th largest state in the nation. Despite its size, this population lacks national recognition. Americans overseas have been excluded from policies directed at ending violence against women and children. At the national level, Americans overseas have been excluded from the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), as it only serves people, no matter their nationality, within the US. Additionally, Americans overseas are excluded from the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), which only serves non-Americans outside of the US. To counter the deficit, AODVC has been working to include the American overseas population in the reauthorization of VAWA by 2012.

In the past year, there has been progress in raising awareness of Americans Abused Abroad. AODVC received the National Crime Victims Service Award from the Office on Victims of Crime, US Department of Justice. While this award honored AODVC, it also shed light on Americans abused abroad at the national level.

2. What are some of the specific challenges a victim of domestic abuse faces when living overseas? Are those challenges more complicated if/ when children are involved?

Americans abused abroad face a myriad of additional barriers on top of the horrific challenges that all domestic violence victims are forced to undergo. These barriers may include lack of access to travel documents, no permission to leave the country, inability to speak the language, unfamiliarity with the legal system, the abuser may be high ranking in the American embassy or local government, and undocumented legal status preventing the survivor from seeking assistance in the foreign country.

In addition to the barriers a survivor faces in a foreign country, when/if they return to the US they may be homeless and penniless, may not qualify for services such as shelter or transitional housing because the abuse occurred overseas, and may have difficulty finding employment.

When children are involved these challenges become more complex creating further barriers for the survivor and the children to live their lives free of abuse. Through the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and other international jurisdiction laws, an abuser can force a survivor of domestic violence to return the children to the foreign country and attempt to gain custody of them. There are no defenses to these actions and no stated exceptions for domestic violence.

3. If someone is reading this who knows someone experiencing abuse overseas – what should they do?

If anyone reading this is experiencing abuse overseas or knows of someone who is, please contact the Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center. We have a toll-free crisis line accessible from 175 countries worldwide, email, and live chat options. Instructions are available on our website, www.866uswomen.org.

If you are in immediate danger, contact your local authorities.

4. Your website talks about some of the myths regarding the reasons for domestic violence - can you talk a little bit more about those? Is there a perception that if someone is from a different culture then domestic violence is okay?

There are myths and perceptions that different cultures promote violence against women, but this is not the case. Abuse is not a byproduct of culture and it can happen to anyone, no matter their demographic, in any country around the world. However, domestic violence survivors abroad may face additional barriers that require culturally sensitive services and intercultural awareness.

5. What is the goal for American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center?

The Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center envisions a life where every person’s intimate partner treats them with dignity, respect and compassion; where oppression is replaced with equality; where expression of anger is non-violent and where children grow up in violent-free homes with their self-esteem intact.

Our mission is to continue working with abused Americans and their children in foreign countries to provide domestic violence and child abuse advocacy, resources and tools so that they can navigate the complicated jurisdictional, legal and social international landscapes, to be able to live their lives free of abuse either in the foreign country or back in the United States.

We aim to continue raising awareness of this population around the world and create a coordinated community response through our Global Campaign to Empower Americans Abused Abroad. This multi-faceted campaign has already been conducted in 6 European cities, 2 Chinese cities, 2 Indian cities and 2 Australian cities.

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To find out more information on how you can help fight Domestic Violence Overseas, please visit - American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center.