Houston Area Women's Center creates hub for Spanish-speaking abuse victims

Houston Area Women’s Center opens new hub on east side for Spanish-speaking residents

It’s being described as "soaring rates" of domestic violence attacks across Houston and the country, and often victims don’t reach out for help. According to local leaders that’s especially true in the Hispanic community.

HOUSTON - It’s being described as "soaring rates" of domestic violence attacks across Houston and the country, and often victims don’t reach out for help. According to local leaders that’s especially true in the Hispanic community.

So the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) now has a hub inside St. Austin Center on S. Wayside where there’s a large Hispanic community. Houston’s East End was selected because according to the Women’s Center, Hispanic victims of domestic abuse are three times less likely than their white counterparts to reach out for help.

"It was very, very difficult because I am living here in this country by myself," abuse survivor Yessica Flores said. "When you’re married you think that person is somebody that’s going to love you the most, right? It breaks my heart."

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Turns out, Flores says her husband was the one hurting her the most.

"I’d have bruises all over me and my forehead and my back," she continued. "He would say he’s going to kill me. So many times I was so scared."

Flores also says for years her husband was abusing her in every way you can imagine.

"Sexually, physically, verbally," she explained. "He threw my cat away just to hurt me emotionally, psychologically.'

(Photo courtesy of Yesica Flores)

"He would tell me he had the white power and that nobody would touch him because he was white," Flores added. "Plus I’m an immigrant, and that was very, very difficult because I did not know what else to do. I was lost."

"Immigrant survivors in particular, often experience severe abuse when they arrive and are exceedingly vulnerable due to fear of deportation and language limitations," Sonia Corrales with Houston Area Women’s Center said.

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The Houston Area Women’s Center's new Neighborhood Survivor Empowerment Hub inside St. Austin Center on South Wayside, is in a predominantly Hispanic community to encourage more victims of domestic violence to seek help and stop suffering in silence.

"These situations are both the most challenging, and traumatic that we respond to as law enforcement officers," says Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. "It really takes a community to make sure we send a resounding message that this is not acceptable, especially in the Latino community because we’ve got to stop that taboo that exists, sometimes the machismo that’s embedded in our culture."

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It was on Houston’s East End where decades ago the sheriff was a rookie Houston Police Officer fighting domestic abuse.

"One of the first calls I ever responded to was a domestic violence situation, and it became a frequent call for service that we would respond to here in this community and I wish I could tell you with any level of confidence that that was a thing of the past, but it continues," says Sheriff Gonzalez.

A couple of East End business owners, Gregg Reyes Owner of ReyTec Construction, and Greg Compean of Compean Funeral Home, have donated $30,000 to help.

"The more money we raise, the Houston Area Women’s Center is able to expand their services," says Compean. "We’re glad to have them on the East End."

In addition to announcing the new hub, there’s also a Safety Plan campaign kicking off.

The importance of a Safety Plan for domestic violence survivors

Houston Area Women's Center is also kicking off its campaign to encourage abuse victims to have a Safety Plan before leaving, especially for east Houston's Hispanic population, who are reportedly three times less likely to reach out for help.

Yessica Flores says a Safety Plan would have kept her from being severely beaten and jailed the day she decided to leave her abuser.

"I say you know what this has got to stop," she explained. "I was about to leave when he grabbed me. He dragged me on the floor, and he beat me."

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However, Flores explains that after the severe beating, her husband called the police and convinced them she was the attacker.

"He accused me of domestic violence against him, and he threw me in jail for six months," Flores explains.

Those charges were ultimately dropped against her, and she was referred to the Houston Area Women’s Center.

HAWC President Emilee Whitehurst says, "Safety Plans save lives," because the women’s center provides a specialized plan for each abuse victim, including necessary resources and a safe place for them to stay where the abuser can’t find them.

If you need assistance reach out to the Houston Area Women’s Center Domestic Violence Hotline at 713-528-2121.