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When Michiko Kobayashi makes a telephone call to her clients, she blocks her own phone number to make sure that it would not be traced through caller-ID or the redial function. When she has to meet her clients in person, they meet at public places and keep in constant vigilance to make sure that no one recognizes them.

Kobayashi, who requested that her real name not be used, is a bilingual advocate at Asian /Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project (DVRP), a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. Founded in 1995 by a group volunteers, DVRP has been providing services for Asian and Pacific Islander survivors of domestic violence in the last decade as more and more immigrants from Asia and Pacific Islands move into the DC area.

The bilingual advocates are volunteers who provide peer support, translation service, and safety planning for survivors of domestic violence. Kobayashi, a native Japanese speaker, has been involved in DVRP’s advocate program for more than two years. While her relationship with her clients has never put her in a threatening situation, she does not lose sight of the fact that the hostility of her clients’ abusers may extend to her once the relationship between her and her client is found out.

In many ways, the bilingual advocates serve as a guide to the outside world for many of DVRP’s clients, who often belong to small, isolated immigrant communities and lack the basic language and life skills necessary to navigate through mainstream American society. But more importantly, the advocates are friends and patient listeners.

“Sometimes my clients say to me, ‘no one believes me, because my husband seems so nice on the outside,’” said Kobayashi. “Or they think that they should feel ashamed, so I told them they shouldn’t feel ashamed.”

Er Chen, a healthcare researcher, began serving as a bilingual advocate at DVRP two and a half years ago. When she first started, the Chinese native found that even though she spoke the same language and came from the same country as her client, there were still considerable cultural barriers between them.

“We didn’t come from the same places. We have different life experiences,” said Chen. “When I first worked with a survivor, it was like listening to a stranger’s story. But when I worked with her more and more, I began to really care about her.”

That particular client later became one of DVRP’s success stories and is now no longer a client but a friend.

“She really has started a new and left the past behind,” spoke Chen of the women. “Even though she had gone through so much difficulties, she always had this optimistic view and was always thinking about the future.”

In the immigrant community, the immigration status is often an issue that prevents an abused spouse from leaving the relationship. The abusers may threaten to stop filing for or keep hold of the victim’s immigration papers and use that as a means of control. Moreover, with the recent immigration debate, undocumented immigrants may feel even more hesitant to seek help from the police.

“There is the chilling effect throughout the community that maybe you can’t really trust the police because you may get in trouble or you may get deported,” said Hannah Sin, the community outreach director of DVRP.

Sin also stressed that domestic violence often involves more than its legal definition, which considers only physical abuse. However, other forms of abuse, such as emotional, sexual abuse or economical control, may cause just as much harm in a person.

“It’s about one person having all the control and power in a relationship,” said Sin. “Oftentimes, there is no physical violence, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a kind of abuse.”

Both Chen and Kobayashi agree that the most difficult part of being an advocate is seeing a client, a friend, live in a miserable and potentially life-threatening relationship and is still unwilling or unable to leave. While the advocates are trained to help their clients discover the resources available and broaden their options, both DVRP and the advocates are careful not to influence their clients’ decisions about their relationships and their lives.

“[A client] talks to you over and over about her experiences, but she just can’t make up her mind,” said Chen. “It definitely makes you sad.”

“It’s not my life, so I can’t tell [my clients] what to do,” said Kobayashi. “I learned to be patient, otherwise I’m so stressed out.”

Other than individuals and government agencies, DVRP also works with Asian American communities throughout the DC area to raise awareness for the issue of domestic violence.

“We are here to provide information for the community and support for survivors,” said Sin, “but also to have the communities take a stand and say that this is not something we are going to be silent about any longer. This is something that we are going to deal with.”

DVRP welcomes volunteers and will begin training advocates in spring 2007. For more information, go to www.dvrp.com or call 202 464 4477.

If you would like to speak to an advocate at DVRP, please call 202-464-4477, Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.