Gender

In April 2019, a local law enforcement agency requested that CRS help improve community awareness of hate crimes and how to report them. The agency perceived an underreporting of hate crimes affecting all of Anchorage Alaska’s diverse communities.

CRS conducted extensive outreach to Anchorage communities and city leaders throughout April 2019 that included a listening tour to understand the concerns affecting each of Anchorage’s communities and government agencies. During the listening tour, CRS met with Alaskan natives who shared concerns and fears caused by gender-motivated violence against women and Muslim community members who discussed fears and tensions in their community caused by hate crimes across the country. CRS held meetings with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska (USAO-AK), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and local organizations.

Both community members and government leaders expressed that they supported efforts to raise awareness of bias-motivated incidents and hate crimes. Community leaders representing the city’s diverse racial; immigrant; native; religious; and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) communities also expressed many of the same concerns, including the need for improving law enforcement-community relations and conducting a dialogue on reporting bias incidents and hate crimes. They also sought to identify hate crimes-related resources for the public and bring law enforcement and the community together to prevent and respond to hate crimes.

As a result, CRS facilitated a public Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes forum in September 2019, that provided Anchorage community members insight into how hate crimes are investigated and prosecuted, the effect of bias incidents and hate crimes, and resources for communities and victims of bias incidents and hate crimes. Nearly 100 advocacy group representatives, community leaders, faith leaders, and students filled the auditorium at the Anchorage Public Library’s main branch. Speakers included the USAO-AK and city officials, who both stressed the need to build trust and foster cooperation between law enforcement and the community as a first step toward increasing hate crimes reporting.

A city resolution was passed that encouraged residents to learn more about proactively responding to bias incidents and hate crimes. In addition, three Anchorage schools requested that CRS help them plan and conduct School-Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (School-SPIRIT) programs for their students in the coming year as part of the schools’ ongoing efforts to reduce community tensions and the number of bias incidents.

Fresno-area Hmong community leaders contacted CRS, in response to a series of recent murder-suicides, in which Hmong men murdered Hmong women before killing themselves. A Hmong women’s group contacted CRS and alleged women are the victims of violence committed by their husbands.

In traditional Hmong culture, men historically held a high degree of decision-making power and control over domestic, financial, and cultural decisions within the home. Some groups within the Hmong community stigmatized a woman or other family members who involved law enforcement in family matters, even if law enforcement involvement may be warranted. Hmong women’s groups in the community were concerned that the community uses traditional Hmong oral law and longstanding religious beliefs to protect men and discriminate against women.

A Hmong women’s group requested CRS to provide mediation and consultation services to the community. The group wanted to educate women about their rights under state and federal law. In the CRS mediated agreement, Hmong leaders agreed that women could contact law enforcement without fear of reprisal from inside the Hmong community. CRS facilitated dialogues between Hmong communities from San Jose, CA, and across Wisconsin to share best practices about how different Hmong communities addressed the same problem.

Following a series of facilitations and consultations with Fresno’s Hmong leaders, the leaders communicated changes in their oral law to the community, clarifying that women may contact law enforcement without male consent and would not face reprisals from inside the community. Support from the community’s traditional leadership was instrumental to the success of the women’s groups’ domestic violence program, that included speakers and workshops for Hmong women. The programs reaffirmed the community elders’ support for women who report domestic violence and helped reduce gender-based tensions in the Hmong community.

CRS continues to work with Fresno’s Hmong community to improve communication with law enforcement and overall police-community relations. In the years following CRS’s initial involvement, the Fresno Police Department continued building capacity and supporting Hmong officers and community to improve overall police-community relations. During a series of CRS-facilitated dialogues with Fresno law enforcement and Hmong leaders, community members requested more information and transparency from the police department. After these dialogues, the Hmong officers in the Fresno Police Department developed the Hmong Residents’ Academy with command’s support. The Hmong Residents’ Academy was a six-week program, tailored for the Hmong community, and run by Hmong members of the police department in the Hmong language. The program was held in April and May 2019, included a tour of police headquarters, and covered topics including internal affairs and use of force; resources for victims of domestic violence; and victim advocate services available to victims of all crimes.