ROANOKE, Va. – One woman in the Hispanic community shared how she escaped her domestic violence situation as well as some of the challenges that survivors are still facing today.
Cristina Moraza moved to the United States from Spain in 2014.
“I fell in love with somebody from here. We date[d] for a couple years. Everything was fine. I was coming to visit,” said Moraza. ”Everything was perfect. The perfect man for me.”
He convinced her to move to America, but the honeymoon phase quickly faded and the abuse began.
“As soon as I put a foot in this country, everything start[ed],” said Moraza. “It got physical. A couple times I had to go to the hospital.”
Moraza said he took all her money and took her phone away for days at a time.
After they married, he never allowed her to pursue her legal status in the United States. He isolated her from the few people she knew. He even called the police on her, threatening they’d take her to jail.
“I was so lost. I was so confused. Because you are moving to another country. You don’t know nobody here. And I didn’t have friends. I didn’t have family,” said Moraza. “I didn’t think that I had rights back then just because I was an immigrant.”
When things got bad, Moraza would stay with a neighbor.
One day, the woman Moraza was staying with said if she went back to her abuser, the door would be closed.
“That made me realize that I had to do something,” said Moraza.
Moraza turned to the nonprofit Total Action for Progress (TAP) for help. Seven years later, she’s come full circle.
Moraza now works for TAP as a bilingual family advocate, helping Spanish-speaking survivors of domestic abuse.
“I can empathize with them. I can see the needs that they have because I’ve been there,” said Moraza.
Moraza said there’s a rapidly growing Hispanic population in the Roanoke Valley and the language barrier is a huge challenge for survivors seeking help. There’s also a lack of Spanish-speaking therapists to provide counseling to survivors.
That’s not to mention the cultural barriers – Moraza said the Hispanic community doesn’t always recognize domestic violence for what is and may even accept it as normal.
“Education, I think, is key,” said Moraza. “They don’t have to be afraid to call the cops. They don’t have to be afraid to ask for help because they can. And it’s their right.”