Korean Domestic Violence
             A 48-year old Korean woman, mother of two sons, has been living in Los Angeles for seven years now. On the evening of July 15, 1997, her husband comes home late at night from his financially shaky liquor store in East LA. He is tired and frustrated from the deception of an American dream once promised to him eight years ago. A small negative remark by the Korean woman causes the husband to unleash several strikes to her face with his open hand. She sustains several bruises on her face and a bloody nose, yet she says nothing and accepts the punishment as if it were inescapable event. She goes to sleep that night angered at herself for causing the outbreak and despaired with the fact that she will be offered no guarantees of safety for the next day.
             Spousal abuse has been a consistent problem in American society. A general survey has shown approximately 4 million cases of domestic violence had occurred in America in one year. Among those 4 million, 95% of the cases are reported to be women. (Ho Kim, 1999, pp.5-7) The common emphasis is on America as a whole, but the situations of Korean American women have been seriously overlooked until recent times. Underneath the vague statistical lines, several contributing factors mark a great difference when approaching this problem. The cultural background and pressures of acculturation into the American culture have left Korean women as "legitimate victims" and have also left them with even smaller avenues of escaping abuse.(Agnew, 1998, p.2)
             The national statistics reveals that domestic violence is one of the leading causes of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44. (Mehrotra,1999, p.16) There has yet to be a distinct number of domestic violence surveys on Asian Americans alone. The few surveys that have been conducted recently show dramatic numbers.
             In Massachusetts, Asians made up 18% of the victims killed as a result of domestic violence ...