Amidst the current heightened sense of individual and collective trauma, anxiety and anger triggered by the murder of Sarah Everard, we were further shocked and saddened by the horrific shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead, seven of them women and six of them Asian American women.
Debate and investigation may be ongoing regarding the part played by misogyny and racism in this terrible violence towards women, but we recognise and share the fear, anger and frustration felt by Asian Americans and members of the South East and East Asian communities in the UK.
Whenever such a situation occurs elsewhere in the world, there are repercussions for people in this instance from South East Asian and East Asian backgrounds in this country. Therefore, it is necessary to work collectively to call out this unacceptable level of violence, racism and sexism so that those communities are protected in this country and to take preventative measures to stop this from taking place over here.
Following the shooting, people of South and South East Asian ancestry on both sides of the Atlantic have spoken out about their sense of disempowerment and marginalisation. They have talked about their experiences of both subtle and not-so-subtle discrimination – from being racially stereotyped as exotic/geeky/submissive/the good minority to the everyday racial abuse directed at staff working in takeaways and the increasing fear at the rise of hostility and violent attacks since the start of the pandemic.
As a staff network committed to challenging, educating and changing, we want to speak out in solidarity – none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate.
We are here to support and work on behalf of all our members and all our diverse communities. Together we are stronger; together, we can make a difference.
The NBCPA will be hosting a meeting with our members on 4 May 2021 to discuss the impact of South East Asian hate incidents on CPS staff and communities.
#StopAsianHate #StopMisogyny #StopHate