Asian American women have been on very high alert amid rising anti-Asian harassment. How do you prepare for the worst, without being always terrified?
LOS ANGELES — The gruesome killing of Christina Yuna Lee in New York City in February rattled many women who could imagine themselves in the same situation. Lee was followed home after a night out with friends and stabbed to death in her Chinatown apartment. Asian American women have been on especially high alert with reports of anti-Asian harassment rising in the last two years.
But some of the conversations around “stranger danger” that took hold in the ‘80s and ‘90s are coming back, Wu said, with the rise of hate incidents across the nation. A recent study from the Center for Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino reported that Los Angeles recorded the most hate crimes among large U.S. cities in 2021 — a 71% jump in the incidents and the third-highest annual total in any U.S. city since the 1970s.“It’s like learning how to drive,” said Wu.
Madison, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman, recommends going to a populated, well-lit area or a police station.Williams said VictimConnect Resource Center’s anonymous hotline specialists will sometimes suggest reaching out to police, but they recognize that is not a safe option for everyone. She said that the vast majority of hate incidents and harassment do not rise to the level of a crime, but can still leave people feeling fearful that it’ll escalate to a more violent situation.“Honor that emotion,” she said. “Take time to process it, feel the feelings, then think about what you can do.”
After the call ends, your iPhone sends your emergency contacts a text message with your current location, unless you choose to cancel. It’ll also make sure your location services are on and alert your contacts if your location changes. Other apps will allow you to hold a button while you’re walking to your destination and call 911 or a trusted contact if you let go, said Williams. Other apps might text someone on your behalf if you don’t input your arrival to a safe place.But beyond technology, it’s good practice to have someone who generally knows where you are going and when you are expected to be back — someone checking up on you if something goes awry.
These are all normal and natural responses to safety, she said. And to know that “we did the best that we could at the given moment, and if we’re here to talk about it, it worked. It got us to this point.” Take a self-defense classSign up for a class. Even if you intellectually understand how to break free from an arm grab versus a neck grab, it’s not the same as practicing the physical maneuvers, Wu said.
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