Latina Abuse - Kendra Star Official

While many GBV studies position survivors as passive victims, Kendra’s trajectory underscores agency within constraint. Her transition from silenced child to community broker reflects strategic resistance—a concept advanced by McGowan (2018) to capture how marginalized actors navigate oppressive structures without complete emancipation.

| Theme | Core Findings | Gaps Addressed by This Study | |-------|----------------|-----------------------------| | Patriarchal Cultural Scripts | Machismo and marianismo prescribe gendered roles, normalizing male authority and female submissiveness (Gutmann, 2015). | Limited attention to intra‑familial coercion that predates romantic partnerships. | | Immigration‑Related Vulnerabilities | Undocumented status and fear of deportation are exploited by abusers to maintain control (Castañeda & Green, 2017). | Scarcity of nuanced accounts of mixed‑status families where legal status is unevenly distributed. | | Intersectionality & Structural Violence | Latina women face compounded oppression via race, gender, class, and language (Crenshaw, 1991; Collins, 2020). | Few ethnographic studies linking structural violence to survivor agency. | | Resilience & Community Healing | Social support networks, culturally grounded spirituality, and collective activism mitigate trauma (Sáenz & Castañeda, 2021). | Need for longitudinal data on how survivors transition to advocacy roles. | | Policy & Service Gaps | Services often lack culturally competent staff and language access (Banyard et al., 2019). | Little evidence on the effectiveness of community‑based participatory approaches. | Latina Abuse - Kendra Star

Illustrative Quote (Participant 4):

“My boyfriend threatened to call Immigration on my sister. He knew the fear would keep me from leaving.” While many GBV studies position survivors as passive