Documentation Status and Violence Exposure in the DR

Women of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic (DR) experience complex and intersectional disenfranchisement in regards to gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. These women are often undocumented and treated as immigrants even if they were born in the DR, due to widespread anti-Haitianism and the retroactive revocation of citizenship. Violence against women is a major problem in the DR, and undocumented women of Haitian descent may be at a particular risk. Undocumented and immigrant women globally experience high levels of victimization, but this is less researched for women of Haitian descent in the DR. This study analyzes interviews conducted between 2012-2013 which surveyed three generations of 49 women of Haitian descent to determine how documentation status and violence exposure may be related. The sample was split into three groups: participants without documentation, participants born with documentation or who gained documentation before the age of 5, and participants not born with documentation but gained documentation before the interview was completed. We will use modified grounded theory to focus on the process of accessing documentation, barriers and supports for doing so, and risk of violence exposure.https://via.library.depaul.edu/psychologynight/1121/thumbnail.jp