In Solidarity with Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Communities

[March 22nd, 2021]

Dear HEAL community,

HEAL Trafficking is outraged at the rise in violence, harassment, and xenophobia targeting Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and horrified by the murder of eight individuals, most of whom were female and of Asian descent, at three Asian owned spa businesses in Georgia on March 16, 2021. These events have redoubled HEAL Trafficking’s determination to combat human trafficking and oppose violence, oppression, racism, and misogyny.

Many participants in HEAL’s network have direct experience with the violence, discrimination, and oppression experienced by the AAPI community. We know all too well the profound impact these traumatic and terrifying experiences have on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of those directly affected, their families and friends, and the larger community.

HEAL Trafficking urges all health systems and health care providers to recognize and address the impact that sexism and racism have on our patients and our workforce, especially when this hatred manifests in violence. We must expand access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health care, including mental health services, to diverse AAPI communities.

HEAL Trafficking stands with AAPI people throughout our society and calls upon our colleagues, our fellow citizens, and policymakers at every level to join with us to condemn and stop these forms of violence, work toward healing, and support health.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

– Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, and everyday, we recommit to this shared struggle.

Hanni
Executive Director, HEAL Trafficking