NEWS MKE SPEAKS: CONVERSATIONS WITH MILWAUKEEANS
The Hearłbreak of Domestic Violence THE ASHA PROJECT FOCUSES ON BLACK WOMEN VICTIMS
SHAWN MUHAMMED & ANTONIA DREW NORTON
BY TOM JENZ
Photo by Tom Jenz.
A
ntonia Drew Norton, Director of The Asha Project, gave me a startling statistic: “Women of color are dying from domestic violence at higher rates than other women. We’re also up to nearly 175 non-fatal shootings of Wisconsin women (in 2022). Ninety percent are Black women. Our purpose is to find out what was happening in the time leading up to the near-fatal event.”
What is your background? Are you from Milwaukee?
Domestic violence affects millions of women of all classes. However, it’s been especially hard on Black women in Milwaukee. Physical and sexual abuse can go unreported because the people involved might prefer privacy over the bureaucracy of the criminal justice system, or the victim reunites with her perpetrator after punishment or counseling. “Black people often don’t trust the criminal justice system,” said Norton
Unfortunately, I had to leave college because I was stalked by someone I didn’t know. The stalker had followed me around the college, and eventually robbed me at my door, tried to break into my house. He put a gun to my stomach and took my purse. All pretty terrifying. As a young woman, I had been a victim of domestic violence by my boyfriend who was also a drug addict. I actually married him but left him a day after the wedding because it was coerced. I determined no one would ever abuse me again, and I began building the base of my future agency, Asha Family Services.
What to do? Unlike the traditional approach of running a victim through the snarled system, the Asha Project designs culturally-specific support programs. Norton told me, “The reason domestic violence shows up more in communities of color is because there are other issues present. Poverty, health care disparities, and lack of mental health resources are all factors that contribute to violence.” At 69, she has been counseling victims for 35 years. 18 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
Yes, I was raised on the East Side. My father worked at American Motors/ Chrysler, and my mother was an MPS social worker. Seven siblings in our family. I graduated from Riverside High School. From there, I went to UWM for college. I majored in African American Studies, but I took a lot of courses in social work.
Which later became The Asha Family Project, as I understand. In 1987, I started The Asha Project, our treatment method focusing on mainly Black women. It revolved around my study of the Black family culture. Acceptance of domestic violence in Black communities is normal, but the
ripples of consequence are extensive. Accepting abuse can be normalized in the Black community because women are viewed as objects. Women are devalued. Because of that, treating Black women victims is different.
How does the Asha Project work? How do you treat Black women victims? The African American culture in Milwaukee is different in our responses to violence. At The Asha Project, we have a team of culturally responsive personnel. For example, a Black woman victim may be perceived as not being a “deserving victim.” After a violent attack, she might behave in an agitated state, be loud, emotional, swearing, gesticulating, saying things like, “You people better stop him, lock him up before I kill him.” Providers or Police might perceive this behavior as aggressive, as a threat, even breaking the law. We view it as her being in pain, and we try to help her calm down. The police or providers might say, “What is wrong with her?” At The Asha Project, we say, “What happened to you?” She may not want law enforcement involved for fear of entanglement in punitive systems.
And there are other considerations for Black women like poverty and misfortune. More Black women die from domestic violence than any other group except