May 25, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kaylee Wong, kwong@api-gbv.org
Today the Biden administration published its long awaited U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action. The National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (National Plan) aims to address gender-based violence through a comprehensive, government-wide approach. This is the first U.S. government-wide plan to prevent and address sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, and other forms of gender-based violence.
The Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence applauds the Biden Administration on their continuous commitment to ending gender-based violence and for recognizing the needs of AAPI survivors and their communities in the development of the National Plan. In the United States, 21 – 55% of Asian women in the U.S. report experiencing intimate physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime.
In the development of the National Plan, the Biden Administration provided numerous opportunities for input, including engaging with AAPI survivors and advocates through listening sessions and written feedback. As part of the development of the National Plan, API-GBV facilitated listening sessions with 16 advocates in September 2021 to gather recommendations for addressing the needs of AAPI survivors.
“We appreciate the Biden administration’s efforts to engage those impacted by gender-based violence in Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and to incorporate their needs and those of culturally specific communities in the National Plan,” said Monica Khant, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. “These efforts are critical to uplifting survivors and we look forward to continuing to work with the Administration, agencies, and our communities to implement the National Plan.”
The National Plan addresses seven key areas of attention: 1) Prevention; 2) Support, Healing, Safety, and Well-Being; 3) Economic Security and Housing Stability; 4) Online Safety; 5) Legal and Justice Systems; 6) Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Response; and 7) Research and Data. The National Plan is based on centering the voices of survivors and recognizes the need for culturally-specific services and an intersectional approach to addressing gender-based violence.
“We appreciate the Administration’s recognition of the needs of AAPI immigrant survivors, including addressing language access and the need to reduce barriers and backlogs in the immigration system,” said Grace Huang, Director of Policy for the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. “We hope to partner with the Administration to eliminate structural and systemic barriers in the legal system so that survivors can access the supports that they need.”
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About Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
The Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV) is a national resource center on domestic violence, sexual violence, trafficking, and other forms of gender-based violence in Asian/Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. API-GBV envisions a world free of gender-based violence for communities with equal opportunities for all to thrive. For more information about API-GBV, visit www.api-gbv.org.
Image 1: Grace Huang, API-GBV’s Director of Policy, with Alliance for Immigrant Survivors co-chairs at the Launch of the U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action
Image 2: Grace Huang, API-GBV’s Director of Policy, with Marium, API-GBV Advisory Committee member at the Launch of the U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action
Image 3: Grace Huang, API-GBV’s Director of Policy, with Krittika Ghosh, Executive Director of the Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project at the Launch of the U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action