Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Tsim Txom: Domestic Violence in Hmong Society

WPR DOCUMENTARY
TSIM TXOM : DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN HMONG SOCIETY
PRODUCED BY BRIAN BULL (29:42)

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In traditional Hmong society, men make the rules and women keep their place. But for Hmong who've left southeast Asia for the U-S, these roles aren?t the rule. In America, women can get jobs, go to school, and become leaders....privileges usually granted to men.

This has sparked tension -- and violence -- in some Hmong-American homes. Yet many abuse victims keep to a quiet, lonely despair rather than lose favor with their families and clan.

In our documentary, "Tsim Txom [jee-TSAH] -- Domestic Violence in Hmong Society", Brian Bull looks at the growing awareness of the issue, and the unique cultural barriers that keep victims silent. (:35)

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[FADE UP AMBI OF DISHES BEING SCRUBBED, KITCHEN ACTIVITY]

Inside a steamy kitchen, a Hmong woman washes dishes. She looks out at the starkly lit winter landscape from iced-over windows. While a wood-burning stove and portable heater take some of the edge off of the chill, the floors and walls still radiate cold. The woman sings to her four-year old son, who wants to help.

[FADE UP FAST SINGING OF HMONG FOLK SONG TO LITTLE BOY]

We'll call this woman, "May". She's a survivor of abuse. She agreed to talk if her real name wasn't used and if her voice was altered, for her personal safety.

May01a: "Women are taught to not talk about their problems to anyone else, to keep it to themselves. And if you were to do that, you were a bad wife." (:07)

May says she's done many things that haven't met approval from the Hmong community. But she wants to share her story, to help others who may be suffering abuse. May says her history with domestic violence began early, with her stepfather.

May02: "Riding around the block with our bicycle, once we get into the house, he would start yelling and hitting me. I'd say, "How come you're not hitting my sister? We both did it." He'd say `Well, I will in a bit". And so he tied me up to the bed and starting....hitting me." (:19)

Former women's advocate Panya Thao says abusers often justify a slap or blow as a way to "set someone straight". She says only now have her people begun to regard it as violence.

PThao2a: "It's called tsim txom [jee-tsah]. That means...how would I explain that? Suffering, being suffered. That is the main term for it, the more appropriate term for it, but there is another term for it. Raug ntaus [juhng dow]. That means you get hit." (:15)

[FADE UP REFUGEE SONG (FLUTE) FADE OUT JUST INTO AIRPORT AMBI]

Learning new ways has been a task for thousands of Hmong who've resettled here. Originally from the mountainous terrain of Laos, the Hmong sided with U-S forces during the Vietnam War, fighting Viet Cong troops along the Ho Chi Minh trail. After the fall of Saigon, waves of Hmong fled to America. 15-thousand more have just arrived, after years of living in jungles or squalid refugee camps in Thailand. At this Green Bay, Wisconsin airport, a woman tearfully greets her father, after spending twenty years apart:

[AIRPORT AMBI OF DAUGTHER/FATHER REUNION (short, teary gasps from woman, old man talking, cameras clicking in background) FADE UP AND HOLD FOR :10, FADE OUT]

These newcomers will strive to retain their culture, in the new land. Many traditions have survived, including the Hmong wedding.

[OPEN WITH "ANNCMT TO PARENTS OF GROOM" (SHAMAN CHANTING IN HIGH, ALMOST WAILING VOICE). HOLD FOR 3-5 BEATS, FADE UNDER]

During the event, negotiators -- called mej koob [may KHONG] -- discuss the conditions of the union with the bride and groom's relatives. Again, Panya Thao:

PThao03: "All the elders talk to each other and say, "you promise to keep the bride or our daughter in safe and good condition and to help keep her healthy". (:09)

[FADE UP "ANNCMT TO PARENTS OF GROOM" FOR A BRIEF MOMENT, THEN FADE BACK UNDER.....]

The terms are meticulously recited by the mej koob [may KHONG],to prevent confusion. If all goes well, a dowry is paid, and the bride leaves with her new family.

[FADE UP KITCHEN AMBI :POTS BEING HUNG]

Not every deal works out. For May, the marriage negotiations with the groom's family were just the start of a long path of betrayal and pain.

May04: "My mom mentioned that I'm only 13, I wouldn't know what to do, what to cook, and so that they needed to teach me. They agreed to that, but once I was married to him and told to go cook a certain meal and I didn't know, they would say how come I'm such a stupid wife....that I was useless." (sniff) (:21)

According to Mao Khang, a women's advocate in Wausau, it's not unusual for a wife to be taunted by her husband and in-laws. Like May, Khang grew up in an abusive household. Khang says in her family, discipline often turned into torture.

MKhang01: "One time my brother went out to play and the parents were home before he did. He got beat up with an electric cord, and with a clothes hanger. You can see the cuts on his back and body and my parents told my brother to go up to the bathroom and sit in the tub, and gather all the kids and say, "Look, if you guys don't listen, this is what you guys gonna get." And then they pour cold water on top of him". (:29)

Khang says most victims of abuse are women, who are seen as second-class citizens in Hmong society. While feminism inspired women in the 1970s to assert their rights and individuality, the message didn't exactly take with traditional Hmong communities. And Panya Thao adds clan leaders in America have upheld the patriarchal system they knew in Laos and Cambodia.

PThao01: "My father always says, "Women nowadays, here in the U-S, they think they're equal to men, but really they're not...." (:06)

In Laos, Hmong men typically eat meals before the women. Men can be leaders, and stay out late. Wives are to clean house, cook, and obey their spouse without question. Thao recalls her dad's views on "liberated" Hmong women in America:

PThao02: "....now they can go and get jobs, and they go to factories, they go and they meet new people, and they're so....what is the word? Sassy. They're like so sassy about everything, they think they know it all." (:14)

Thao says these differences between the Hmong and American cultures have sparked conflict within families. Spouses and parents may physically discipline women who don't conform to standards. May says she knows that drill. By adolescence, she was tired of being singled out by her stepfather. Soon, a suitor approached May with just the right assurances.

[HMONG LOVE SONG ON FIPPLE FLUTE --HOLD FOR A COUPLE BEATS, FADE UNDER NEXT TRAK]

May03: "He told me that if I married him, he would take care of me, he would love me. He would give me a happy life. I only knew him for 3 months, I was having problems with my step dad. And so I got married to him." (:13)

[POST OF HIGH NOTE ON FLUTE HERE, FADE OUT]

May was happy to leave home. But she soon realized she was no better off. If her husband wasn't hitting her, he was taunting her.

May05: "He'd always call me names, he was never nice to me. If he wanted meals on table, he'll tell me "go fetch me some food". (sniff) and I was pretty much isolated from the world while with my ex. Every time I called my mom (sniff) while I was stressed or depressed, he'd always throw the phone at me and say I needed to go find a job and work. That he wasn't going to pay that, so I had to drop out of high school pregnant with a second child and go work across town". (:34)

May got a retail job, while raising two kids. Her husband continued the abuse.

May06: "He was always yelling at me, he told me that I was nothing and I was stupid. He threw out my clothings on the footsteps, so I left him. I took the Greyhound and went back home. He called me and told me a certain time and date if I didn't come back at that time he'd kill himself and die. I still loved him, so I went back." (:27)

May says her husband was nice for awhile. But when she went shopping for clothes at a department store, he accused her then of trying to attract other men. They argued, and May left town. He then called her and offered to move in with her at her apartment. She agreed.

May08: "Well, there's one thing I need to tell you. I'm pregnant again." Then he said, "Well that's not my kid. You probably were screwing around down there" and he told me....a curse? He said that if it wasn't his, then for me to have hard labor, and as soon as my kid comes through, as soon as I see her -- one glance -- for her to die. And if it's his then to have a normal labor and for her to grow up healthy." (:29)

May had planned to have an abortion. But her mother was furious at her son-in-law's remarks. She told May to get back together with him and have the child to prove him wrong. May had a healthy baby girl, but her husband didn't care.

May09: "Every time he gets mad, he pounds the table, and I tell him to knock it off. And he told me, "You better shut up before I beat the crap out of you and your bastard kid." (sniff) He pretty much put my self-esteem, down low to where I felt like committing suicide, I was so depressed all the time. I used to just run crying into the bathroom and cut my arms with razor blades. Just enough to see blood seep out. That was how I relieved my pain." (:34)

The stress and isolation ravaged May. Her next pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Observing Hmong tradition, she stayed home for a month eating boiled chicken, to recuperate. May's husband spent more time out of the apartment, presumably doing laundry. Finally, May's concern -- and suspicion -- took over. She went out one afternoon, looking for him. He wasn't in the basement laundromat.

May10: "I went to check in his sister's apartment. He wasn't there. Then his mother's apartment, I checked and he wasn't there. I heard giggling in another woman's apartment so I knocked slowly and her son opened. And there was a mirror on one side, I could see them from the reflection. They were whispering and giggling and hugging each other. So I just closed the door and ran back upstairs, and I was crying." (:28)

May's husband said he was just trying to persuade the woman to stay with her husband. When May didn't believe him, he threatened her physically and said he could find a better wife, any time.

May11: "I called my mom and told her I was coming back home and she said, "No -- you should stay and work things out with him. And if you come back, people are going to say I'm a bad mother and I don't want a bad reputation. And I said "No, I'm still coming home". So when he left for work, I called a taxi and I did not cry at all. I loved being strong, being able to do something for myself." (:28)

After four turbulent years, May was free of her husband. But not her troubles.

[BRIEF :35 TRANSITIONAL MUSIC BED -- EXCERPT FROM GAVIN BRYAR'S "FAREWELL TO PHILOSOPHY"] (@ 10:29 -- 11:04)

You're listening to "Tsim Txom [jee-TSAH] -- Domestic Violence in Hmong Society" -- I'm Brian Bull.

After May left her abusive husband, she found herself in a cold, alienating, world.

May12: "My step dad told me that I was a slut. My uncles would tell me that I'm a disgrace to the clan. Now that I have left him, I've given them a bad name. They said I was nothing to them. Whenever they have any kind of festive gathering, they don't call me anymore." (:20)

May's ordeal is not unusual. Mao Khang, a domestic violence advocate in Wausau, says when a Hmong woman leaves her husband, she suffers the wrath of an entire community.

MKhang07: "They're abused not just by their spouse, but by his clan, and also her clan and friends." (:09)

Khang says because Hmong society scorns divorced women, many battered wives stay in bad marriages. Otherwise, men think she was unfaithful, lazy, or difficult. Other wives fear the divorcee will seduce their husbands. This can isolate victims who escape their abuser.

Arlene Hillestad of the Family Center in Wisconsin Rapids recalls how one Hmong woman fled from her husband, then became chronically depressed.

Ahillestad02: "They were able to get away from the violence, they were not able to get away from the ostracization. And so she gets up in the morning, goes to bed at night, without another voice that she can communicate with. Her tie to the mainstream has not happened. So she's violence free, but what kind of a life is she leading?" (:20)

Some Hmong keep quiet for fear of being deported, or losing their children. Hillestad recalls an early poster campaign that backfired.

AHillestad01: "We were trying to get the concept across that if children witness domestic violence, they often end up being abusive or end up with legal consequences. Well, the concept's good, but when we had it done in Hmong, the literal translation's "if you beat your wife, your children go to prison". So we've learned that it's not easy to take what we think and translate it into something that's meaningful for the Hmong." (:26)

Other efforts have tapped a nerve in the Hmong community......

["SECRET SHAME" CLIP -- BEE PULLS PAHLI OUT OF BED]

(In Hmong): "Lazy bitch, get up and cook!" (woman cries) (04)

As part of its 2004 T-V series, "Glass Eye/Metal Face", the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent in St. Paul, Minnesota explored domestic violence in a segment called "Secret Shame". Based on real victims' accounts, it portrays an abusive marriage from courtship to divorce. In this scene, Bee, the husband, confronts his wife, PahLi, about her absence from home.

["SECRET SHAME" CLIP -- YELLING]

PahLi says she was celebrating her birthday with a relative. Bee accuses her of fooling around, and hits her.

In formal Hmong fashion, the clan is called in to settle the matter.

[A MARRIAGE OF ABUSE CLIP-- CLAN LEADER ADVISES BEE]

(In Hmong -- voiceover translation):

"We're glad that you've come to us clan leaders today. We will help you solve your problems. Bee, you need to be more patient. Control your anger. Don't beat your wife. We can not have this."

A clan leader who promotes domestic violence awareness is Andrew Her, in Milwaukee. He says not everyone responds to clan intervention:

AHer02: "Some individuals, they don't listen to their clan leader. They do what ever they want. Some people think they have the power to hit their spouse or their wife. We tell them that the law is different than in our country." (:15)

And Thai Vue of the La Crosse Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association, says the clan system has its own way of dealing with abusers, that don't amount to a criminal record.

TVue03: "I cannot simply beat up my wife, if I do I will be penalized. Not through the legal system, like I get arrested, taken to jail, things like that. But I would pay a restitution to my wife's parents, and her family." (:20)

Such restitutions are money, or a large offering of food or goods. There may be ceremonies where the spouse apologizes for their actions. Sometimes a pig is sacrificed, and a Hmong shaman works to heal the marriage.

Vue says the clan system works well with older, more traditional Hmong. But younger Hmong-Americans may see it as antiquated and inefficient in controlling a problem abuser.

TVue02: "Maybe to the point where his family would say "We're going to abandon you, and not claiming you for this kind of behavior", that may still not stop it. So I think people look at cases like this and say, "Well it didn't really help". (:16)

Critics of the clan system say it opposes separations, and favors the man's position. This is reflected in the "Secret Shame" program, when the wife asks clan leaders to control her husband.

[A MARRIAGE OF ABUSE CLIP -- CLAN LEADER CHASTISES PAHLI]

(In Hmong -- voiceover): "PahLi, you're to blame because you don't submit to Bee. That's why he beats you."

Former victims advocate Panya Thao says many wives bottle up negative feelings about their husbands, to avoid scorn from their clan.

PThao04: "Because in the culture, the husband has a right to go and cheat on their wives and the wife can't say anything about it...." (:04)

These pent-up feelings -- paired with isolation -- can lead to a tragic finale.

PThao04b: "Well, when the wife is suffering emotionally and verbally, the clan doesn't see that....it can end up into killing." (:07)

In the past two decades, a series of murders tied to domestic violence erupted across Hmong communities in the upper Midwest. In 1997, a Wausau, Wisconsin man shot his estranged wife and her friend in front of the couple's children. In 1998, a St. Paul woman killed her six children and attempted suicide. That same year, an Eau Claire, Wisconsin teenager killed her newborn baby. The child was fathered by a cousin who had repeatedly raped the girl in her family's home.

Cases like these have prompted special services for immigrant communities. Sue Levy and Mai Zong Vue work with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

SLevy01: "The state started the domestic violence programming at Mai Zong's initiative several years ago, there were about four suicide cases throughout the state that really highlighted for us the need to do a better job of educating people about women?s rights and processes for getting help if you need it." (:31)

MZVue01: "The first case that really prompted this whole discussion was the Eau Claire case back in 1990, where a woman was killed and left in a van and the shelter director there didn't know what to do. I remember that really stirred up discussion of how do we provide services to prevent D-V in the Hmong community." (:27)

Vue says there are nearly one-thousand abuse cases on file, out of the estimated 43-thousand Hmong living in Wisconsin. Vue says the Hmong don't necessarily have higher rates of domestic violence than other groups, but there is concern that many cases go unreported. Vue says besides the patriarchal clan system and societal attitudes towards women --- money, housing, education, and language can also pose barriers in getting help. Currently, about a million dollars in state and federal aid is spent every year on special Hmong support programs, including one called "Refugee Family Strengthening".

[HMONG AMERICAN CENTER -- FOOD PANTRY AMBI -- women chatting, laughing, bagging food]

At the Hmong-American Friendship Association in Milwaukee, volunteers pack food baskets for poor families. The Center also helps with jobs, loans, and domestic problems.

[HMONG AMERICAN CENTER-- AMBI WITH DOM VIOLENCE OVERVIEW]

"...within a month, we probably get 80 to 90 calls...."

Mai Tong Chang sits in a dimly-lit cubicle lined with children's drawings, postcards, and post-it notes. Chang coordinates the bilingual Hmong hotline, which started in 19-97:

MTChang01: "We also have about six volunteers who help answer the phones. And there's some Hmong language here that says, [HMONG SPOKEN] --"if you have any issues at home, please call the phone number here, there will be a Hmong person who will answer your phone call 24 hours....And it's for?[PHONE RINGS]---excuse me....

Another state-funded initiative focuses on education. A video titled, "New Life", was produced in central Wisconsin, where 14 Hmong clans are located. Building on the Hmong's relocation after the Vietnam War, the video uses the analogy of a family of birds who flee their destroyed forest. The birds relocate -- and struggle -- in a new land:

[HMONG "NEW LIFE" VIDEO -- AFTER 2-3 BEATS, FADE UNDER VOICEOVER TRANSLATION]

New Life Video: "Adjusting to this new life caused many problems and stress between father and mother bird and their children. The peace and harmony in the family began to go away. There was anger and the mother bird and her children were afraid. She did not know what to do, or where to turn...."

Several community services are explained by Hmong representatives. A Wood County sheriff then discusses the legal aspects of domestic violence:

Sheriff Statement: "It is against the law for one person to hit another person, even if they are from the same family. Remember, the police are here to help you and keep you from being hurt in any way, so don't be afraid to call...." (FOLLOW WITH HMONG TRANSLATION, FADE UNDER ]

Another video distributed by the Hmong-American Friendship Association, called "Overcoming Domestic Violence," shows various ways of addressing conflict. In one scenario, a wife comes home from work, tired. She grabs the bills and slumps on a couch, as her husband returns from his job. When he sees dinner isn't made, he berates her before the kids.

[SHORT AMBI OF ARGUMENT -- man and wife bickering in Hmong]

The alternate scenario shows the same situation, only with the husband sympathizing with his tired wife.

[SHORT AMBI OF NICE HUBBY : nice relaxed chat with man and wife in Hmong]

But despite high-end productions like these, domestic violence advocates admit it's tough changing attitudes in Hmong society. Kharlina Thao coordinates a weekly batterer's group.

KThao03: "I talked to two of the gentlemen that I have in my group and one of them just made the comment to me saying, `Well you know, if you know my wife, you will understand why I hit her'. You know, they have a lot of reasons, like she's spending too much money and she's not paying the bills or she's not watching the kids or just stuff like that." (:18)

[AMBI OF BATTERS GROUP]

Woman: You punch her two times.

Man: Yes. It's not like I thought about hitting her, it's not like I wanted to hit her, but I just get so mad. It came out of nowhere.

Woman: In Hmong community, we say that (HMONG PHRASE)...they say that you hit a wife because she speak out, she doesn't know her position".[FADE REST OUT]

Advocates themselves are targeted for isolation, threats, and ridicule. Mai See Xiong, a bilingual counselor for the Family Center in Wisconsin Rapids, says she got a lot grief for taking the job.

MSXiong01: "A lot of my relatives would say, "Well, do you want everyone to hate you? Do you want people to think you?re a pimp (laughs) or something, thinking I worked in a whore house. And this is very new to them, domestic abuse is just look the other way, or deal with it within the clan. So going outside of the clan is just unthinkable. And working in one and helping women go outside the clan is even more unthinkable."

Xiong says many people think that victim advocates only want to break up families. And that they disregard the clan. Xiong says she actually tries hard to work with the clan, because it's a tough job without a leader or elder's support. Her colleague, Terry Harcrow, is a case management supervisor for the Family Center. Harcrow says she's used to being able to immediately help out an abuse victim -- but in Hmong cases, it's hard to step back and wait for the clan to try to resolve the matter first.

THarcrow01: "When you know that someone's hurting and being abused, you want to of course, get them out of that situation as quick as possible. But with respect to the culture I can understand where they would want to do that within the clan. The clan is there from the beginning when they're married....they're there all the time, helping them through their life. And in this case it's natural just to try to go to them because they're there for most of their problems up until that point." (:24)

But when the clan is unable or unwilling to resolve the dispute, a Hmong victim and her advocate may find themselves at war with an entire community.

[BRIEF :27 TRANSITIONAL MUSIC BED -- EXCERPT FROM GAVIN BRYAR'S "FAREWELL TO PHILOSOPHY"] (@ 23:11 -- 23:39)

You're listening to "Tsim Txom: Domestic Violence in Hmong Society", I'm Brian Bull.

Womens Community advocate Mao Khang says once while working in Wisconsin Rapids, she was approached by a Hmong woman who was being routinely beaten by her husband. She told Khang she wanted justice -- but through the clan system, not the legal system.

MKhang04: "So I said, "Okay, sign a release." I called the perpetrator's clan and told them the situation was, and that the victim wants to solve things. They basically said, "No, that's how she is, and we're not going to do it." (:17)

Khang then explained that the husband was not to approach his wife any more, because of a restraining order. Clan leaders acknowledged the warning.

MKhang05: "So then a couple weeks later, he went to her house and beat her up really bad. Cops called and everything. This went to court, went to trial." (:12)

Khang says in the courtroom, supporters and relatives of the victim filled six seats. The perpetrator's family and supporters filled the entire other half of the courtroom, with an overflow crowd lined up outside the building. Khang says even before the trial's outcome, clan leaders were outraged that she was advocating for the wife.

MKhang06: "A lot of people behind me were making faces and rolling their eyes and naughty stuff. Right after trial, one of my uncles told my dad, "How come you don't tell your daughter, can't you control her? Why you letting her do this to us? She was supposed to be on our side, why is she being on the other side?" (:28)

Khang says the husband was found guilty, and sent to jail. But afterwards, she was unable to work or connect with any other Hmong person in the Wisconsin Rapids area -- and so she left for Wausau. Justice had been served, but for Khang and her client, an invisible wall had cut them off from their immediate community.....perhaps, forever.

[FADE UP KITCHEN AMBI -- WRAP UP OF DISHES, SETTING UP OF STOVE]

For abuse survivor May, that's a fair price for peace and safety. Back in her kitchen, May chats with her four year old son, about lunch.

[MAY AND BOY TALK -- The kid asks for hot dogs....]

May fries some hot dogs on the stove, as the boy drinks some milk. May says she knows a few friends and relatives in dangerous relationships, including her sister-in-law.

May13: "He would beat her, and when she cries he'll cover her with a pillow -- that way no body hears her crying. She has scoliosis, so he beats her on the back, kicks her. She'd come over to the house with all these bruises on her back and she'd say, "Oh I fell down the stairs." Gets me very mad sometimes, they always say, "I'm staying with the man for the sake of my kids." And I'm telling my sister-in-law that's a lame excuse to be in that relationship, knowing it'll never work out. You don't need to be with a man who thinks he is the king and you are like a maid to him." (:45)

[SLOWLY FADE UP DESTINY SONG -- (IN HMONG) "YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE" -- HOLD UNDER NEXT FEW TRAKS]

May says obviously, not all Hmong men are like her ex-husband. She's now married to a long-time friend from her childhood. May says he's a keeper.

May14: "He always tells me every day he loves me. He hugs me, kisses me, tells me I'm beautiful. Sometimes, the house, I don't even clean it -- he says, "You're tired, I'll clean it for you." I don't know what I'd do without my husband. He's my best friend, all my friends say I'm very lucky to have him." (:22)

May says her new husband teaches her things like fixing cars....while she teaches him basic housekeeping.

May15: "Cooking. Taking care of newborns. If you see garbage, don't just walk over it, you have to pick it up! And wash your feet before you sleep! (laughter) (16)

[FADE UP DESTINY SONG (IN ENGLISH): "You are the love of my life...." FADE OUT UNDER NEXT TRAK]

May says she and her husband work hard to make ends meet. But soon she'd like to go back to school, finish her degree, and perhaps become a health worker.

Her happiness has had one setback -- after seven years of no communication, her ex-husband has recently demanded custody of their four children. May says besides losing her kids, she's also afraid her four-year-old son may grow up to be like her first husband. Studies show that children raised in abusive environments often take on violent behaviors.

May16: "If he's like my ex, I'll stick up for his wife or girlfriend. I will not allow that to happen." (:07)

[FADE UP "THE NORTH SHORE" BY GAVIN BRYARS, FROM CD "A MAN IN A ROOM, GAMBLILNG" @ 1998 Point Records]

May has begun to talk more openly about her experiences with domestic abuse, to inspire other victims to find help. May and many client advocates hope in time, that traditional Hmong society will begin to view women more as equals....and to meet conflict with patience, not force.

[FADE UP AND HOLD MUSIC FOR :08 - :10, EXTEND AS MUSIC TAIL]

Special thanks to the Womens Community Center of Wausau, the Hmong American Group in Milwaukee, the Family Center of Wisconsin Rapids, and the Wisconsin State Department of Workforce development for their support and participation in this program. Thanks as well to the survivors of abuse who shared their stories, and their victims advocates. Additional materials were provided by Wisconsin Public Television, and the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent. For "Tsim Txom [jee TSAH] -- Domestic Violence in Hmong Society", I'm Brian Bull. This has been a production of Wisconsin Public Radio.

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