HUMAN RIGHTS | Defending human dignity
14 January 2009
Young Peruvian “Leader on the Rise” Fights Domestic Violence
Offering a personal example, Lucia Zegarra counsels men and women
Washington — In her part-time job as a counselor at a Catholic Charities shelter for the homeless in Washington, Lucia Zegarra takes every opportunity to educate her clients, mostly Latino men, about the horrors of violence against women.
Having endured abuse as a child in Peru and violence in her marriage in the United States, Zegarra, a full-time student at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has emerged a strong voice against the issue, especially in Washington’s Hispanic community. She participates in public events, such as a recent live telethon at Washington’s Telemundo affiliate, and provides online counseling through blogs and social media networks to women who need help.
In November 2008, Zegarra was elected to the Advisory Council of the Peruvian Consulate, a liaison between Washington’s Peruvian community and the consulate. In October, the Governor’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs in Maryland selected her as the Hispanic Heritage Leader on the Rise.
These distinctions have risen from her determination to spread the word about patterns that can lead to violence before it starts — especially among people from cultures in which male authoritarianism may be historically more acceptable. She believes such attitudes can influence women to be less likely to stand up against violence, particularly in an unfamiliar country.
CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS
As a child, Zegarra experienced abuse by an extended family member in a country cited as having one of the highest domestic violence rates in the world. A 2005 study by the World Health Organization found that more than 50 percent of women in Peru (and Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Tanzania) reported physical or sexual violence by intimate partners.
She said she believes many women are socialized to accept more aggressive, less compassionate characteristics in men, perpetuating an environment conducive to violence.
Zegarra speaks from experience. Having grown up in a male-dominant environment, she believes she unintentionally chose to marry someone with these more aggressive characteristics after she came to the United States, where the rate of violence against women is not as high but still is a nationwide problem and major concern.
In a November 2008 study by the Young Women’s Club of America, 36 percent of American women ages 18-29 said they are “very worried” about being a victim of or knowing someone who is a victim of domestic violence. Of these women, 73 percent said stopping violence against women in the United States should be a priority for President-elect Obama and the U.S. Congress in 2009.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Zegarra came to the United States in 2000 on a temporary visa to work at a California ski resort to earn money for college. She met someone who represented what she thought she wanted. “He was so charming; I thought I was Cinderella.”
She now believes she was looking for someone to take care of her, so his need to know everything she did and with whom she socialized was not unusual to her at first. When she returned to Peru, he called her several times a day, and she found herself checking in with him to report her daily activities before he called.
When he came to Peru in 2002 to marry her, Zegarra’s mother, who had once warned Zegarra that “a man who hits you once will always hit you,” was not impressed. She noticed him raising his voice at her daughter, but Zegarra insisted he was just stressed. “I was constantly defending him.”
At their home in Northern California, having little knowledge of America, she saw the country through his eyes and believed what he believed. “Lucia started disappearing,” she said.
Outgoing and friendly as a young girl, Zegarra had enjoyed volunteering in her community, teaching abandoned and underprivileged children in local hospitals. Helping others helped her forget her own worries, she said. Also a good student, she had been accepted to college in Peru and wanted to study medicine.
In California, she was isolated — no job, no school, few friends. “I was lost in his world,” she said, cleaning, shopping and washing clothes. When she started volunteering at a women’s shelter and attending a local college, she learned that her situation was not only unusual but also dangerous.
Her husband first complained then engaged in physical violence. At first, she was too shocked to take action. Not wanting to upset her mother, she called his. “She said ‘Lucia, that’s why I divorced his dad.’”
THE EPILOGUE
Zegarra‘s divorce was final in 2006. In the meantime, she found a good job in the call center of a large corporate contractor and made plans to return to school. She moved to the East Coast, where one of her earliest distinctions was being named a Renaissance Scholar at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, before transferring to UMBC. She plans to become a pediatrician first and a psychiatrist later.
After her divorce, Zegarra had decided she would be on her own for a while. At the call center, she met a computer contractor whose gentle perseverance eventually impressed her, but she hesitated to begin a relationship. She decided to put him to the ultimate test, and he passed. “My mom loves him,” she said.
