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17 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 989 (2015-2016)
Mediating Domestic Violence Disputes in Chinese Immigrant Families in the U.S.: The Case for Court-Appointed Mediation Programs

handle is hein.journals/cardcore17 and id is 1015 raw text is: NOTES MEDIATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DISPUTES IN CHINESE IMMIGRANT FAMILIES IN THE U.S.: THE CASE FOR COURT-APPOINTED MEDIATION PROGRAMS Kevin Lam* I. INTRODUCTION Chinese immigrants, particularly those that lack legal status, have historically mistrusted the U.S. legal system.' Not only are they wary of the adversarial nature of court proceedings, but also language and cultural barriers frequently prevent them from gain- ing meaningful access to relief.2 As a result, issues that arise from within the Chinese immigrant community are generally addressed privately or with the assistance of community leaders.' In the case of domestic violence, cultural norms and values about gender roles typically deter battered immigrant women from seeking help in the first place.' Undocumented immigrant women are more suscepti- ble to deportation and are thus generally reluctant to seek help outside the family because, in many cases, their status is dependent on the sponsorship of their battering spouse, and in some instances, * Staff Editor, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution; J.D. Candidate, 2016, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The Author would like to thank his wife and parents for their love and support. 1 Immigrants' mistrust of the U.S. legal system, including their fear of persecution by the police, is certainly not unique to the Chinese community but rather it is part of a larger phenom- enon shared by many immigrant groups of color; a discussion that is beyond the scope of this Note; see generally, Cynthia Garcia CoIl and Katherine Magnuson, The Psychological Experi- ence of Immigration: A Developmental Perspective, in 4 THi. NiEw IMMIGR.: AN INTERDISC. READER 105, 105-34 (Marcelo M. Suirez-Orozco, Carola Suirez-Orozco & Desir6e Baolian Qin, eds., 2005) (discussing cultural mistrust among immigrant groups of color as a result of the history of prejudicial and discriminatory practices by the dominant white society). 2 Xiaobing Xu, Different Mediation Traditions: A Comparison Between China and the U.S., 16 AM. Riv. INT'L. ARB. 515, 539-40 (2005). 3 Id. 4 Deanna Kwong, Removing Barriers for Battered Immigrant Women: A Comparison of Im- migrant Protections Under VAWA I , 17 BERKELEY WOMEN's L.J. 137 (2002). See, e.g., Leslye Orloff, Mary Ann Dutton, Giselle Aguilar Hass & Nawal Ammar, Battered Immigrant Women's Willingness to Call for Help and Police Response, 13 UCLA WOMEN'S L.J. 43, 55 (2003). 989

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