LA Times Articles

( I ( ... using kinship terms such as auntie or sister andtalking face to face rather than over the phone. "We were able to prove tofunding sources that Paci About Women fic-Asian women have specialneeds, and if I've accom plished anything, it's that," said Rimonte. "There area good number of Philippine millionaires here. My main ByJANICZ KALL aim is topart them fromsome of theirmoney." The attitude she often met with was,"You people are Helpfor Pacific-Asian - Women mild-mannered. You don't beat up yourwives or children." "That's just not true," Rlmonte said.A partof the im petus for the shelter was the finding that more than Helpfor women who ban been raped or batteredwaa two-thirds of the women who called the rapehot line not a concept that went over easily In Loi Angeles' were battered women. powtngPadfic-Aalan communities. Theubiquitoua American bot line didn't reach out and Cluseaanti Coauellq touch women vlctiml.manyof them retu,ees and re The shelter will accommodate about seven women · centlmmlgranta. who arenot accustomedto telephones and three children at a time. "We hope to establiah and are culturally dialncllned to complain-or even English language classes, job counseling and to put apeatof-male abuse.A counaelorwho doesreach iuch together a business that will employ women. We're a vtcttmJ•likely to beaccused of beinga homewrecker." not work for Asian women. said Rlmonte. "The profile very ambitious," Rimonte said. And theimage ol A8lanl. asgenUe, courteous, family- of a rape victim is & non-assertive person. The Pacific "We have to try to find housing and aaailt them in . oriented people made It difficult to persuade fwiding Asian woman is raisedto benon-assertive. We're raised getting on welfare," she said.This, she added.ii atem qeocies....,_Adilevemeatneed ofa for domeat.lc violence aervlces. to thinkwe are inferior to men. ThisIs true of othercul porary measure. "We want to avoid takingwomen out tures, too, but It's institutionalized In ours. There's a to of their homes and putting them on welfare. Welfare ii drying up. and for Asians. withthe exceptionof new re- Noneol that deterred Nilda Rlmonte who, aaexecu tem pole. The top Is the senior male; the bottom Is the tive directorthe of Centerfor the Paciftc Asian Family, children.Close to the bottom are the women. bal beenfor working more thana yearto turnthe cen A Famll1 Crl1l1 ter � programs that deal with some unpopular "You have to understand the values. Rape is a crisis raliU&'lbe lhowpiece achievement lathe fll'Stshelter for the whole family: the grandfather, wicle,boyfriend for Padflc-Aaian battered women that will open April and so on. Some rape victims are beaten by their male 28in Hawthorne. relatives or disowned by their families. The usual hot 9 Thecenter, run and ftnanced mainly by the Phlllp lineprocedure doem't apply to our victims." Sunday, April 19, 1981/Put VI pnecommµnity, "bad never,been into i8luea like this," An obvious need iB for cowiseling in their own lan _ llid Bimollte. Her first project was a survey of needa guages, and the hot line andthe new shelter y.rill offer . that l'ff� that npe· and battering ishigh in occur� counselors who speak Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Viet fugees, weie isnot palatable.They don't stay on It if .. rencelow IDd In proffle In the Asiancommunity. namese, Thai and Philippine dialects. they can hel il" . "We� btgbstaUstlca but peopledidn't want totalk Less obvious needs are cultural. Asian women have Once be n, counseling may be extensive. "It's nel aboutit, .aiesaid. "The l,que of concealment and denial not adopted the American habit of speaking of intimate unusual for ua towork witha woman for10 months. Her iibuge. Peq,le told me not touse the word rape(for the problems to strangers over the telephone. "Many come problems are things like deciding howto breaJcthe news center'srape bQt line) because women wouldn't use IL I from places where there are no telephones," said Ri- to her mother and father that she's leavinj her hus refused because I thought thla wu colluding with the monte. They use the hotline to call to say they'll come band" Among the shelter's difficulties is that "we are communityIn hiding the issue.I thought it wastime to over. "Even when they· can speak English, when it seen asbreaker� uppers of families,"she said. bringit out. andit paid off... COff\eSto 1motional problems. they use their own lan "We need to do a lot of community education. We Elistingnpe hot lines that cover the county would guage," s)1e. said. Their languages and culture include have barely scratched the surlace." The Center for the Pacific-Asian Family, Inc. ., Pacific-AsianP.ape 6 BatteringUne Nallnac, A Shelter .,,; 10 Part11/Friday, March 26, 1982 . TOM JOHNSON · · ,� . llosAngeles mtmes Publishtr andChief Ex«Ullw OfJl«r ' DONALD F. WRIGHT P11blishers • Pmidentand ChiefOperatmg O/fim' HARRISON GRAY OTIS, 1882-1917 WIWAM F, THOMAS I HARRY CHANDLER, 1917-1944 Editorand Ex«Ullw Vitt !'rmkknt NORMAN CHANDLER, 1944-1960 OTIS CHANDLER, 19fi0.19WJ VANCE L SffCKELL Ex«utiw VittPmidmt, Marutilll JAMF.S D. BOSWELL, Vitt Pmident, Employtit Relation, CIJARLF.S CHASE, Via Pmident, (Jpmltlotu L P.LANNF.S, Vi« Pmkkl,tand As.sl&tant to tM PublWiu • C. J B. GRIDER, Vb Praldent, /'rOdUCtiOn , . RETRO ERT C. LOBDELL, VI«/>rakknt and �neralCOUIIMI OTIS CHANDLER GEORGE J. COTUAR, Ma""""6 &Ji'!" Editor-in-Chief, Times Mirror 19fKJ- ANTHONY DAY, EdilMof dw F.ditorl41Pa,a JEAN SHARLEY TAYLOR, Asiodo# EdlJOr A Center With a Difference The Center for the Pacific-Asian Family is a for themselves. For half the women, Rimonte said, shelter for battered women and their children, but battering started in their native country, where it it is a center with a difference. The women who was�nsidered acceptable to discipline one's wife. arrive on its Hollywood doorstep frequently speak Once a couple moved to this country, the man little or no English, they do not know that wife might be forced to takea lower-status job. His wife beating is a crime, and they may be undergoing a might work, too, and these changes added totxtst difficult cultural adjustmentto a new country quite ing tensions. apart from the violence inflicted on them. Rimonte said the center also encounters unique The center began as a rape-hotline service but, · problems \n trying to help place the WOI1?ten in jobs, as executive director Nilda Rimonte explained, because programs helping Asians here are geared the· staff quickly realized that the needs of Los toward men, who have been the traditional Angeles' growing Asian community were much . providers. The women often are afraid to go to broader. For example, she said, many Asian training programs anyway because they may run women were unaccustomed to the telephone, and into their husbands, who are also seekingwork. certainly to discussing rape on the telephone with The center opened last year, and faces the same strangers. Women who were referred to exiaUng financial problema of other social�service agen shelters found no one who spoke their language or. cies., The program has a $75,000 grant from the understood their culture, and the food wai differ- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ent. · "These are basic needs; if you can't eat and . but the money may be cut off in June. While the you can't communicate, where are you?" R�monte ARCO Foundation and the National Council of asked. · . Jewilh Women have provided grants, Rimonte is The Hollywood center can house 13 f�ea at · . comtaoUy on the lookout for an "angel" to help one time. In addition to providing a secure haven · .·with fund-raising, esp�ially if the federal money for . the women, the staff works to help · them . dries up. understand. their victimization and make deci11ions It is asad story, heard all toooften in 1982. "' ' .

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