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Stories of domestic violence and sexual assault on undocumented immigrant women tell of a deep-seated problem in the United States.

*Author鈥檚 note: Italicized portions are based on case studies from victim advocate counselors. Names have been changed to protect the persons involved.

Marisa Raygoza let out a heavy sigh.

鈥淭his is a very sad topic.鈥� She shook her head.

Raygoza, the end-of-life coordinator at El Comite in Longmont, Colorado, sat for a minute with her face propped in her palm.

鈥淪o many of our women鈥�I鈥檓 sorry.鈥�

She paused as her voice broke, reached across the desk for a tissue, dabbed at her eyes under her glasses.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e hidden. They鈥檙e in the shadows. They鈥檙e in fear. They鈥檙e nobodies.鈥�

In 2014, the聽聽estimated that there were roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.,聽. Most hail from Mexico and Latin America. One in six Latina women survive rape, attempted rape and sexual assault, while rates of domestic violence are even higher.

Studies provide a murky picture, but most estimates put the number at anywhere from one-quarter to nearly half of Latina women who have experienced domestic violence. Accurate statistics are scarce because Latinas often don鈥檛 report domestic violence. Undocumented women (and men) often avoid self-identification for fear of deportation.

鈥淏ecause I am a woman, I do fear more for the women,鈥� Raygoza said. 鈥淵ou think about how they鈥檝e been treated. What has their life been like? We鈥檙e talking 15-20 years, most of these people have been here that long now, and in the shadows.鈥�

鈥楾his one is a difficult one鈥�

Rosa Murillo is a victim advocate for the Boulder County District Attorney. She鈥檚 heard many stories of domestic violence, but still some stand out more than others.

鈥淭his one is a difficult one,鈥� Murillo prefaced.

Juan and Maria were聽from Mexico. They immigrated to the U.S. and both of their kids were born here. They lived in Lafayette. They had a couple of domestic violence incidents, where Maria聽would report but then later deny that anything had happened. She would recant for the same reasons every time聽鈥斅爐hey were both undocumented. She had contacted Murillo previously concerning domestic abuse, but continuously recanted out of fear.

Maria聽didn鈥檛 have any family here. She wasn鈥檛 close to her mother, so she was in the U.S. by herself with her husband. Juan聽had a couple uncles and a brother in the U.S., so all the relatives she had were his family.

At one point Maria聽decided to leave Juan. She was on her own, but doing well with her children. Juan聽continued to harass her and look for her. She got聽a car. She got a job at Wendy鈥檚 and lived in a small trailer with the kids. She knew she didn鈥檛 want to go back to him.

A few months later, Maria聽began dating a man聽who was very helpful and supportive.

One evening they went to a dance, where Maria聽had something to drink. Her boyfriend drove them home.

Juan聽and his brother came looking for them. They drove to the boyfriend鈥檚 home. They stayed in their car and waited for Maria and her boyfriend聽to come home.

When the couple arrived, Juan聽immediately went to the driver鈥檚 side, thinking that she was driving. Because she hardly ever drank, she was always the designated driver. Juan聽went to driver鈥檚 side of the car and opened the door, and when the boyfriend looked outside, Juan hit him on the head with a bat, breaking the boyfriend鈥檚 skull.

Juan鈥檚聽brother grabbed Maria, pulled her out of the car and pushed聽her around. Juan聽came around to the passenger side. He balled his right hand into a fist and punched聽Maria聽in the forehead.

Maria聽came into Murillo鈥檚 office the next day.

鈥淚鈥檝e had it,鈥� she told Murillo.

Maria聽had bruising all around her eyes. Both of her eyes were completely bloodshot, one was swollen shut.

Murillo spent eight hours with Maria聽that day taking statements and translating for her. Juan his brother聽were immediately arrested. Maria聽went聽to the court hearings, which is unusual for someone who has聽been assaulted that badly. Usually people who come to the hearings are still supportive of the individual, but Maria knew she didn鈥檛 want anything to do with him. Still, she felt a sense of remorse. She cared so much for him. She would bring the kids to the courtroom. Even though Juan聽almost killed her, Maria聽was still emotionally involved.

VIMEO -聽Rosa Murillo, victim advocate for the Boulder County district attorney

鈥楾he vast majority don鈥檛 call police鈥�

Exploitation of undocumented immigrants is a pervasive issue. They often are the victims of crime, theft and fraud, in addition to sexual crime.

鈥淥ne of the scary things about American history is we鈥檝e always had an underclass,鈥� said Stan Garnett, Boulder County鈥檚 district attorney. 鈥淲hen you have an underclass, it鈥檚 dangerous for lots of reasons, and one of the reasons it concerns law enforcement is because the bad guys think they can take advantage of the underclass and nobody will do anything.鈥�

Crimes against undocumented immigrants are vastly underreported, and shame surrounding domestic violence and sexual assault compounds this silence.

鈥淭he vast majority of people don鈥檛 call police,鈥� said Agueda Morgan, director of programs at the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Local police departments have no jurisdiction regarding federal immigration policy, and cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials has聽. Federal immigration agents are unlikely to travel to detain and deport someone, especially for misdemeanors and lesser crimes. Despite this, any sort of involvement with law enforcement and police is still avoided at nearly all costs. 鈥淭hey think 鈥業鈥檓 putting myself into the mouth of the wolf, so why would I do that?鈥欌�� Morgan said.

The fear and distrust of law enforcement runs deep in the immigrant community.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of what-ifs and faith or lack thereof in the system, because they鈥檝e heard it, they鈥檝e seen it,鈥� said Carmen Mireles, operations director of El Comite. In cases of domestic violence, especially instances where victims may defend themselves against their abuser and cause bodily harm such as a scratch or bruise, the victim may actually be the one arrested by a responding officer. These victim advocates are then sometimes arrested and even deported.

Immigrant women who experience domestic violence are also at risk for being sexually harassed by their employers or coworkers. A 2009聽聽found that 77 percent of Latina women surveyed felt that sexual harassment was a major issue in the workplace.

鈥楽he would come in and literally shake鈥�

In 2012, Garnett prosecuted a case against an employer who聽聽an undocumented employee, threatening to call immigration regarding her status. The woman, who was from El Salvador, eventually sought help from Garnett鈥檚 office through local services.

鈥淪he鈥檚 such an amazing person, but her level of fear was so intense. She would come in and literally shake,鈥� victim advocate Murillo recalled.

That fear began on the job, where she worked for a Longmont-based janitorial service and the man who owned it.

While Cecilia cleaned聽the bathrooms in restaurants in downtown Boulder, the owner聽would come behind her and force himself into her. This happened many times.

One time, Cecilia聽tried to tell the owner聽she was on her period, but it didn鈥檛 matter to him, he still went ahead and raped聽her.

She first told her boyfriend that her employer was being inappropriate, touching her and making her do sexual things. He didn鈥檛 believe her.

So one day Cecilia聽took her cellphone and recorded him asking her for sexual favors. She showed the boyfriend. A few weeks later, she was at a Latin store in her neighborhood. She lost it at the store. She broke down, sobbing and crying.

An employee from the store asked Cecilia聽what was wrong, and she told him 鈥淢y employer has been assaulting me.鈥�

He聽helped get her in contact with聽Mental Health Partners (a Boulder nonprofit providing crisis services) and that鈥檚 how she finally reported it. Prior to that day, she was so afraid of what might happen to her that she had no intention of reporting.

The owner of the cleaning service who assaulted Cecilia was convicted of second聽degree assault and sentenced to聽2 years of work release. He was also sentenced to ten years of sex offender intensive probation.

Cecilia聽had separated from an abusive husband when she left El Salvador. When she left she had no choice but to leave her three kids.

During the proceedings, one of her daughters was sexually assaulted by a gang in El Salvador. She heard about that and she wanted to leave. 鈥業 have to leave, I can鈥檛 stay,鈥� she said.

The counselors were able to talk to her and convince her to stay, and see if she could apply for a visa for her kids. She got a U-visa with the help of immigration legal services. It included her kids because they were at risk in El Salvador.

In Hispanic communities, cultural aspects add a layer of difficulty in the reporting process. Shame and silence surrounding sexual assault and domestic violence prevent reporting. 鈥淐ulturally it鈥檚 not something that we talk about. It鈥檚 not acceptable. You don鈥檛 talk about it, you don鈥檛 talk about what goes on at home,鈥� Mireles said.

One of the most significant values in Latino culture is the emphasis and importance of family structure. An individual鈥檚 decision to report domestic violence may create backlash from family members, and the fault may be on the victim for disrupting the family, not the abuser.

鈥淭he culture, their religion, they鈥檙e told that this is the way the life is, that they are to put up with this stuff,鈥� Mireya Rios, a victim advocate for the Boulder County district attorney鈥檚 office said. 鈥淭heir role is to be by that person, that鈥檚 how they鈥檝e seen their parents grow up and that鈥檚 how they should grow up.鈥�

鈥榃ho else is being abused?鈥�

Family structure can also create problems if abuse is occurring inside the home.

鈥淥nce you start peeling away layers: Who else is being abused? Or who else knows and isn鈥檛 saying anything, isn鈥檛 supporting the victim?鈥� said Kat Bradley-Bennett, programs director at El Comite.

This family was very close, a very tight knit family. The uncle of the family was someone who everybody looked up to. They respected him. 聽He was a religious man, very involved with his church. He was the person they could trust to go to with any problems. He immigrated into the U.S. with his family, and he was the only one who was documented. He was their main support, the person who was going to help them get a job and try to move on.

He and his family were very welcoming to other members of their family, some of them undocumented. He took聽advantage of the situation.

The rest of his family came to the U.S. and went to live with him. He took聽advantage of the聽female relatives who came into the home. Three older women in their 30s eventually came forward and said he molested them. One of the nieces was 11 years old at the time.聽

During Christmas one year, he molested his 11-year-old niece. She didn鈥檛 tell any adults. She told the other little kids that her uncle had been touching her. Two years later, she disclosed to one of her teachers at school that she had been molested. One of the older girls, whom he also molested, had not told anyone. He was prosecuted on multiple counts and the case went to trial.

The young girl who had been molested told her cousin, because she knew she would believe her, but she didn鈥檛 think anyone else would believe what she had been through.

His youngest niece testified against him during the trial. Her mother had also been a victim and testified as well. A lot of family members were in court when she testified, and none of them knew what had been happening for years, even though multiple women in the family had been forced to endure his behavior.

No one wanted to talk about it. Everyone heard聽rumors, but because he was such an amazing person and always willing to help his family, they didn鈥檛 believe the rumors.聽He鈥檚 now serving 16 years in prison.

The girls and women聽felt like their uncle聽controlled their lives, that he was more powerful than they were.

鈥淯sually immigrant victims see people that are documented as someone with more authority. They have so much more than you do, they have all this power, they can call immigration on you,鈥� Murillo said.

Many women may choose to survive abuse because knowledge about options for reporting and resources are minimal, and the report may negatively impact members of their family and their children. Even after reporting, however, a lot of survivors of domestic abuse recant.

鈥淣o one鈥檚 ever ready to leave until they鈥檙e ready to leave,鈥� Mireles said. Survivors are often unaware of local resources available to them, such as counseling services, job and housing placement, and language services designed to help them.

Reporting domestic and sexual violence is extremely difficult for any individual, but lack of bilingual and bicultural resources make reporting even harder. According to the聽, this can cause secondary victimization for a child or family member translating for a victim. Spanish may also be a second language for some immigrants coming from certain parts of Mexico and Latin America where the indigenous language is their mother tongue.

Defining and understanding abuse, consent and aspects of a healthy partnership are also complex aspects of domestic violence. 鈥淚n the Latino community, a woman has to sexually gratify her husband whether she wants to or not. She doesn鈥檛 have a right to say no,鈥� Morgan said.

Women also may not know about laws designed to protect them, such as those provided by the Violence Against Women Act. U-visas are available for individuals who are the victim of a qualifying crime, such as domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, stalking and trafficking. Other qualifying criminal activities are included for eligibility, but the U-visa is designed to encourage individuals to report instances of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

翱苍濒测听聽are provided at a national level annually. According to immigration attorney Karina Arreola, the application year begins in October, and in the past few years the cap has been met by December. The application must be signed and approved, usually by a chief of police or another designated official, yet political backlash can impede this approval. Departments are under no obligation to sign.

If these officials are part of a non-immigrant friendly community or up for re-election, this can affect policies that make it difficult for visa approval. In addition to this, the entire process can take up to seven years for approval. At present, approximately聽聽for U-visas are backlogged awaiting review.

In Colorado, the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services run programs focused on sexual assault and domestic violence, collecting data and publishing it annually.

Service providers such as the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA) are required to provide data to these agencies in order to fulfill grant requirements, but aggregate totals for the state are not being tracked and published. The Department of Justice in other states, like California, maintain databases and collect incident-based data to gain a better understanding of the scope and prevalence of this type of violence.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that between聽, primarily women and children, are trafficked into the U.S. as sex slaves annually. A separate T-visa exists for survivors of trafficking and although there are 5,000 available per year, as of January 2009 only聽.

鈥淭he subject is enormous. Think of it like an onion, it鈥檚 immigration law and policy but the victimization is just one layer,鈥� Morgan explained. 鈥淭he heart of it is power and control, having that power to control someone else and oppress and manipulate.鈥�