Anti-Asian violence: Asian American women still don’t feel safe year after Atlanta spa shootings

The lethal shootings introduced consideration to a surge of hate crimes concentrating on Asian People, notably girls.

A yr later, many Asian American girls nonetheless say they nonetheless do not feel protected.

Anti-Asian violence has been broadly reported for the reason that onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however some Chicago-area Asian People say crime in opposition to their individuals is nothing new.

“I do know it’s straightforward to conflate it with every part else happening with COVID and COVID-related hate crimes, however this incident might have occurred exterior of the pandemic,” stated Sung Yeon Choimorrow, govt director of the Nationwide Asian Pacific American Ladies’s Discussion board.

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Choimorrow stated Asian girls have been objectified for hundreds of years on this nation.

“Many people, whereas we have now skilled some degree of racialized sexual harassment, nobody thought one thing like this might occur,” she added.

This previous weekend, dozens gathered at Horner Park on Chicago’s North Aspect to recollect the victims.

Grace Pai is the manager director of Asian People Advancing Justice Chicago. She stated for a lot of Asian American girls, the tragedy in Atlanta is a name to motion. Many began sharing their tales and lobbying their elected officers to take motion.

“There’s quite a lot of worry within the Asian group and within the immigrant group to not converse up about issues that you’ve skilled,” Pai stated. “So now that we’re beginning to see extra public accounts, and increasingly more individuals converse up.”

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A survey of greater than 2,400 AAPI girls throughout the nation discovered 74% reported experiencing racism and/or discrimination over the past 12 months, 38% stated they skilled sexual harassment and 12% reported experiencing gender and/or race-based bodily violence.

Choimorrow stated policing is not the answer.

“To ensure that Asian American girls to start out feeling protected once more, we have to make it possible for people who take a look at me, that I stroll previous on the road, see me as a fellow human being and never any individual that they’ll objectify,” Choimorrow stated.

Final spring, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a invoice making Illinois the primary state to require Asian American historical past be taught in public colleges.

“In order that’s one thing that we hope can have a extremely broad impression, proper and ensuring that college students of all ages no matter whether or not or not they establish as Asian American, be taught in regards to the historical past of Asian People, be taught that Asian People will not be an ‘different,’ that we’re not perpetual foreigners, that we’re People that we’re an enormous a part of American historical past,” Pai stated.

Activists have additionally been pushing for the first-ever majority Asian ward that would come with Chicago’s Chinatown and Bridgeport.

“Simply having individuals in workplace who’ve those self same lived experiences, who know what it is wish to need to stroll dwelling at the hours of darkness alone as an Asian lady, to know the intersection of racism and misogyny — I believe that’s one thing that you simply, it is exhausting to narrate to should you do not establish that approach,” Pai stated.

Though Chicago hasn’t seen the assaults on Asian American girls as violent as these reported in New York Metropolis or the Bay Space, Choimorrow stated security considerations of Asian American girls on this metropolis ought to be taken significantly.