Celebrating Activists During Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is a time to recognize the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the US. In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage, Journey Center honors AAPI activists who have impacted the gender-based violence movement.
These are just a few of the influential voices who have made history as part of the anti-violence movement. Journey Center is grateful to these, and many other, AAPI activists for leading the way.
Katherine Chon
Katherine Chon co-founded Polaris (formerly Polaris Project) in 2002. Polaris is one of the leading organizations combating sex and labor trafficking and is the largest known U.S. data set on actual human trafficking experiences. Through the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline thousands of victims and survivors have been assisted. The organization has helped hold traffickers and companies accountable. Chon was with Polaris for nine years, serving as its president for almost four years. Today, she is currently the Director at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Trafficking in Persons.
Chanel Miller
Chanel Miller is an American writer and artist with locations in San Francisco and New York City. She was known anonymously after she was sexually assaulted on the campus of Stanford University in 2015 by Brock Allen Turner.
The following year, her victim impact statement at his sentencing hearing went viral after it was published online by BuzzFeed, being read 11 million times within four days. Miller was referred to as "Emily Doe" in court documents and media reports until September 2019, when she relinquished her anonymity and released her memoir, Know My Name.
Patsy Mink
Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink was an American attorney and politician from Hawaii.
Patsy was the first woman of color to serve in the US House of Representatives and first Asian American elected to Congress. She authored Title IX which bans gender discrimination in federally funded education programs.
Amanda Nguyen
Amanda Nguyen is a social entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and the CEO and founder of Rise, a non-governmental civil rights organization. She was involved in proposing and drafting the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act.
Nguyen has also been credited with kick starting the movement to stop violence against Asian Americans after her video calling for media coverage went viral on February 5, 2021. Nguyen was nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and was named one of the 2022 Time Women of the Year. She has also received the 24th Annual Heinz Award in Public Policy, Time 100 Next, Forbes 30 Under 30, and was credited as a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy.
Nilda Rimonte
A Filipino victim of abuse, Nilda established Everywomens shelter in California, the first U.S. shelter for Asian women. She first founded the Center for the Pacific-Asian Family (CPAF) in Los Angeles in 1978. The CPAF established the first 24-hour rape hotline in 1978 and the first domestic violence shelter (1981) serving monolingual Pacific-Asian women in the United States.
Journey Center recognizes the critical work that is needed to center the experiences of Asian American Pacific Islander women in order to address the impact of violence on AAPI women and girls.
18% of Asian or Pacific Islander women reported experiencing rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime in a national survey, as compared to 48% of American Indians or Alaska Native women, 45% of Black women, 34% of Hispanic women, and 37% of White women
Women from communities with histories of racial discrimination often have less access to services and resources that help reduce risk and increase safety. Journey Center is committed to serving all survivors on their unique path to safety and healing.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call or text Journey Center's 24-Hour Helpline at 216.391.4357 (HELP).