New data shows that almost 3,800 racially motivated attacks have occurred to Asians and Asian Americans post covid in the USA. Women made up a far higher number of the reports, at 68 percent, compared to men, who made up 29 percent of those who reported. These incidents occurred between March of last year to February of this year. Chinese were amongst the largest ethnic group (42.2%), followed by Koreans (14.8%), Vietnamese (8.5%), and Filipinos (7.9%) that reported experiencing racism. The nature of these attacks have been in the form of micro-aggressions to verbal and physical and in some cases deadly. The country was shocked to learn of a deadly shooting spree that occurred in Georgia this week, where Asian-women were the primary target. The killings came amongst a recent wave of attacks against Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States.
Hate crimes and harassment of Asian Americans should not be ignored.
The AAPI group that released this data states that they have seen a huge increase in the number of attacks and gives first hand insight on what is really going on. Often the impact that hate crime leaves on a victim’s mental health is under-appreciated. In alot of cases many of the victims didn’t know support resources were available to them. The wave of violence directed at Asian American women and seniors that were captured on video, have sparked more attention from mainstream media. The crime against the victims in Georgia has renewed an outcry for more attention from politicians and the main stream media.
Surprisingly the AAPL organization states that they suspect under reporting to be going on within the Asian community. Some of the reasons why there is a lack of reporting going on is due to the mistrust of law enforcement or simply the lack of awareness that resources exist for things like this.
Hong Lee was one of the many women attacked recently and encourages others to speak out.
The trending hashtag #stopasianhate has already garnered almost 100,000 post on instagram alone. With celebrities and influencers speaking out. Organizations like AAPL have been keeping up with the reports and have resources available if you or someone you know falls victim to these crimes. Numerous support groups have been popping up online in communities like Clubhouse, Twitter and Facebook.
A disproportionate number of women have been getting attacked. The report shows that 68% more women reported these attacks versus men. Women report 2.3 times more than men. Experts say that this is due to sexism that Asian women face everyday. Another unspoken truth is that Asian-American women deal with harassment and sexism within this country. With reports of anti-Asian attacks surging after the Trump administration repeatedly blamed China for the Covid-19 pandemic, there is evidence that most of the hate, unlike other types of bias crime, has been directed at women.
There is an uncomfortable truth going on– About 4 in 10 Asian Americans said people have acted uncomfortable around them because of their race since the pandemic started, and 31% said they have been subjected to racial slurs or jokes, according to a Pew Research Center study. Now is the time to reach out to your friends and ask them if they are okay, if they need support or just a listening ear.
Here Are A Few Different Forms of Hate Crimes:
- Being verbally abused (e.g. being called a name)
- Being threatened or harassed in person (e.g. at home, on a bus or in the street)
- Being threatened or harassed online (e.g. on social networking sites or via email)
- Experiencing deliberate damage to property (e.g. racist/ homophobic graffiti, smashed windows or wheelchair vandalism)
- Being physically attacked (e.g. being spat at, punched or sexually assaulted)
What to Do If You’ve Been The Victim of a Hate Crime
File a Police Report
- Get the responding officer’s name and badge number
- Make sure the officer files an incident report form and assigns a case number. If a police report is not taken at the time of your report, go to the police station and ask for one. Always get your own copy, even of the preliminary report.
- If you believe the incident was bias-motivated, urge the officer to check the “hate/bias-motivation” or “hate crime/incident” box on the police report.
Find Support
- Friends and family
- Get professional help –Find resources from the FBI
- Contact anti-violence support service – such as the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
How Can You Help?
- DONATE
- Educate Yourself
- Share and Provide Resources
- Contact anti-violence support service – such as the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
More Resources:
MENTAL HEALTH
REPORT AN INCIDENT
DONATE
With 20 million Asians in the United States — six to seven percent of the nation’s population — odds are that you know someone who is of Asian descent. Check on them. Asking something as simple as “How are you feeling about this?” or “How can I support you?” can go a long way. As the CEO of a new startup created to support ALL women I invite all women to join our new app and get the conversation started. Let us know how we can support you at this time, if only for a place of connection or support, we want to be here for you.
It’s not just about one RACE but the HUMAN RACE and when one of us suffers we should all band together to support. By starting the dialogue it will lead to solutions during this tense environment.