European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Becky Masaki director of the asian women s shelter in san Francisco counsels a client. Shelters in . For abused asian wives not by David Rubien new York times Ith its new shelter for battered asian women the san Francisco Bay area joins new York City and los Angeles in recognizing a problem that has Long been hidden among the rapidly growing asian communities of the United states the presence of Domestic violence. A group called the asian women s shelter project bought the five bedroom shelter with $100,000 raised through benefits and Grants. The shelter has housed More than six families cambodians chinese filipinos and vietnamese. It s been great said Becky Masaki the director of the shelter which opened in october. It s difficult work and time consuming but the Progress our clients have been making is really inspiring. They be been getting help from our multilingual advocates in Legal things and finding new places to live really using our  a Small percentage of asian men social service agencies have discovered physically abuse their wives in this asians Are no different from other ethnic groups. However asian victims As a Rule Are less willing to talk about Domestic violence often compounding the tragedy. It s coming out of a Shadow said Bok Lim Kim a professor at the Smith College school of social work in Massachusetts. We Are seeing it wherever there Are lots of asians. Police Are finally starting to recognize the situation and refer battered asian women to shelters and social  that the problem is acknowledged at All belies the stereotypical picture of asians As docile stoic deferential people who would t harm a Flea. It s a Takeoff on the whole Model minority myth that asians Don t have social problems said Valerie Chow Bush a Board member of the asian women s shelter project and a former prevention and Community education coordinator for the san Francisco family violence project. We re All supposed to be upper Middle class we All own bows she said. We be made it and somehow our making it has made us immune to problems other minorities  the foundation for any solution to this problem social workers agree is a shelter a Safe House where a battered woman and her children can live for As Long As necessary. Because if you can t get the woman out of the battering situation then other social services Are just a band Aid and the woman might go Back to the Man said Deeana Jang a lawyer who represents battered women and a Board member of the asian women s shelter project. Without a shelter there is often no  a Survey of 33 Bay area social service agencies conducted by the shelter project in 1986 found that 800 battered asian women had sought help that year. With around 400,000 asian women living in the area that is a proportion of 0.2 percent. It is minuscule compared with the National total estimated for All battered women which is 24 percent according to Murray Straus a co author of the pioneering 1980 Book behind closed doors violence in the american family Anchor press Doubleday. Yet the 800 asian victims were far More than local agencies could handle. Two other shelters for battered women each with a capacity of 20 victims with children now serve Bay area women of any nationality. Chow Bush said that before the asian women s monday february 1989 shelter in san Francisco opened she had situations where i wanted to place an asian but the shelters were either full or they would t take the woman because of  compounding the problem she said is that the batterer has usually tried to isolate the woman from friends or  " i Don t have any friends is what we hear a lot from the women she said. That s another reason Why the asian women s shelter is so  the first shelter in the United states for asian women was established in 1981 in los Angeles. Called every women s shelter it has 12 rooms each with space for a woman and two Small children. The director Nilda Timonte said the shelter s existence had increased awareness of spouse abuse in the asian Community from a level of 0.001 percent among social service agencies to the Point where the shelter now sees 200 battered women a year. Still she complained that los Angeles is so big that it is difficult to get the word out to families in need. On the East coast the new York asian women s Center established in 1985, has come to terms with the City s prohibitive rents by setting up a Safe Home network of families who open their Homes to battered women. It has also rented some apartments As shelters. Even when the shelters exist however getting battered women into them remains a struggle. Louann Nosaka a lawyer who assists japanese immigrants in san Francisco said there Are three main things that isolate the victim culture language and  the main cultural Factor is traditional asian family values there is a Strong sense that you should not bring shame and disgrace to the family by exposing something such As Domestic  divorce is taboo in Many asian countries putting added stress on women who seek to leave the men who Are abusing them. Tina Shum a social worker in san Francisco who assists battered chinese women said women Are very afraid that once they get divorced they la never marry again. Chinese men usually look for virgins. If the woman has children it s very  battered asian women can face a Thicket of financial adversity. Shum whose employer the presbyterian Church organization Cameron House counsels about 200 battered chinese and vietnamese women a year says immigrant couples often undergo role reversal that throws the traditional family dynamic out of whack. If neither person can speak English she said the woman will get a Job much More easily because she will be willing to work in a sewing factory or sell dim sum in a restaurant or be a dishwasher. So she becomes the breadwinner. Since the Man is used to being head of the household he can become frustrated and beat his  problems with the . Immigration and naturalization service come into play in a Quarter of All instances of Domestic violence among asians according to Shum. Many of these cases involve mail order brides whose asian husbands Are naturalized american citizens who have sought a wife abroad. According to state department figures 3,449 k-1 visas commonly known As Fiancee visas were issued to asian women most of them filipino in 1987, up from 34 such visas issued in 1970. The Man will go Back to pick up a wife Shum said they Don t even  it s pretty common to marry a woman much younger than he is she added so when they get Back Here he s afraid the wife will meet a younger Man. Some women Are not allowed to leave the House at  an immigration Law passed in 1986 with the intention of reducing the number of mail order brides has actually worsened the victimization of women. Now when an immigrant arrives on a Fiancee visa and is married she is issued a temporary Green card or work permit that expires in two years. At that Point the couple must prove that they Are still married for the wife to achieve permanent residence. One unintended result is that there can be no question of a battered wife s seeking a divorce. The Man will just say you Don t like it you can go Back to China,1 " Shum said. She noted that if a woman is physically abused and is willing to press charges she can make a Case with immigration authorities for being allowed to stay but not Many women know they have this  the stars and stripes Page 13