Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! Trainings Teach Safe Intervention in Anti-Asian and Anti-Asian American Harassment

New Report Shows Over 30 Percent Witnessed Blame of Asian People for COVID-19
For Immediate Release
Contact
Michelle Boykins (202) 296-2300, ext. 0144 mboykins@advancingjustice-aajc.org

Washington, D.C. — Today, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! announced new dates for their bystander intervention training sessions after an overwhelming response to their initial training offerings in April. The announcement comes at a time when more than 30 percent of Americans have witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new Ipsos survey conducted for the Center for Public Integrity.

“We are deeply concerned about attacks against Asians and Asian Americans since the global outbreak of coronavirus,” said Marita Etcubañez, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. “In these difficult times, it is important to be able to offer resources and we are proud of our partnership with Hollaback! that has enabled us to train more than 3,600 people on intervention tactics in the past month.”

Advancing Justice | AAJC is encouraging the community to report hate crimes and hate incidents through StandAgainstHatred.org, a website that allows people to report in English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. While anti-Asian and anti-Asian American racism and xenophobia are not new, we are experiencing increased harassment, discrimination, and even violence towards the Asian and Asian American community and those perceived to be Asian and Asian American during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The fear is palpable and very real for our Asian and Asian American sisters and brothers,” said Emily May, Executive Director, Hollaback!  “It is important that Hollaback! and Advancing Justice | AAJC offer the tools to help them handle that fear and learn how to safely intervene when they see harassment happening."

Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! announced six new training sessions for May and are working on additional phases of training to teach effective solutions that will help the Asian and Asian American community deal with the ongoing problem of hate.

  • Saturday, May 2nd at 2pm ET / 1pm CT / 12pm MT / 11am PT / 8am HT
  • Tuesday, May 5th at 3pm ET / 2pm CT / 1pm MT / 12pm PT / 9am HT
  • Thursday, May 7th at 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT / 1pm HT
  • Wednesday, May 13th at 2pm ET / 1pm CT / 12pm MT / 11am PT / 8am HT
  • Thursday, May 21st at 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT / 1pm HT
  • Saturday, May 30th at 2pm ET / 1pm CT / 12pm MT / 11am PT / 8am HT

Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! are planning to launch two new trainings focused on impacted communities facing harassment and conflict de-escalation for frontline workers.

For more background, please see Hollaback’s publication, Show Up: Your Guide to Bystander Intervention.