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A·S) Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women ofColor KIMBERLE CRENSHAW ... My OBJECTIVE [is to explore] the race and gender dimensions of violence against women of color. ... I consider how the experiences of women of color are frequently the product of intersecting patterns of racism and sexism.... [Based on] a brieffield study ofbattered women's shelters located in minority communities in Los Angeles,l [I found that in most cases], the physical assault that leads women to these shelters is merely the most immediate manifestation of the subordination they experience. Many women who seek protection are unemployed or underemployed , and a good number of them are poor. Shelters serving these women cannot afford to address only the violence inflicted by the batterer; they must also confront the other multilayered and routinized forms of domination that often converge in these women's lives, hindering their ability to create alternatives to the abusive relationships that brought them to shelters in the first place. Many women of color, for example , are burdened by poverty, child care responsibilities, and the lack ofjob skills.2 These burdens, largely the consequence of gender and class oppression, are then compounded by the racially discriminatory employment and housing practices women of color often face, as well as by the disproportionately high unemployment among people of color that makes battered women of color less able to depend on the support offriends and relatives for temporary shelter.3 Where systems of race, gender, and class domination converge, as they do in the experiences of battered women of color, intervention strategies based solely on the experiences of women who do not share the same class or race backgrounds will be of limited help to women who because of race and class face different obstacles.4 Such was the case in 1990 when Congress amended the marriage fraud provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to protect immigrant women who were battered or exposed to extreme cruelty by the United States citizens or permanent residents these women immigrated to the United States to marry. Under the marriage fraud provisions of the Act, a person who immigrated to the United States to marry a United States cit43 Stan. L. Rev. 1241 (1991). Copyrighted Material 363 364 I KIMBERLE CRENSHAW izen or permanent resident had to remain "properly" married for two years before even applying for permanent resident status,5 at which time applications for the immigrant's permanent status were required of both spouses. Predictably, under these circumstances , many immigrant women were reluctant to leave even the most abusive ofpartners for fear ofbeing deported.6 When faced with the choice between protection from their batterers and protection against deportation, many immigrant women chose the latter. Reports of the tragic consequences of this double subordination put pressure on Congress to include in the Immigration Act of 1990 a provision amending the marriage fraud rules to allow for an explicit waiver for hardship caused by domestic violence .7 Yet many immigrant women, particularly immigrant women of color, have remained vulnerable to battering because they are unable to meet the conditions established for a waiver. The evidence required to support a waiver "can include, but is not limited to, reports and affidavits from police, medical personnel, psychologists, school officials, and social service agencies."8 For many immigrant women, limited access to these resources can make it difficult for them to obtain the evidence needed for a waiver. And cultural barriers often further discourage immigrant women from reporting or escaping battering situations. Tina Shum, a family counselor at a social service agency, points out that "[t]his law sounds so easy to apply, but there are cultural complications in the Asian community that make even these requirements difficult. ...Just to find the opportunity and courage to call us is an accomplishment for many.''9 The typical immigrant spouse, she suggests, may live "[i]n an extended family where several generations live together, there may be no privacy on the telephone, no opportunity to leave the house and no understanding of public phones."l0 As a consequence, many immigrant women are wholly dependent on their husbands as their link to the world outside their homes. Immigrant women are also vulnerable to spousal violence because so many of them depend on their husbands for information regarding their legal status.I I Many women who are now permanent residents continue to suffer abuse under threats of deportation by their husbands. Even if the threats are unfounded...

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