Several bills to combat violence and harassment against women and other vulnerable populations in public spaces, including streets and public transit were introduced by California lawmakers on Thursday amid the rise of attacks against Asian Americans across the nation.
State Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, introduced the first bill, which would require the state’s 10 largest transit districts to study the types of harassment that commuters experience and data-driven initiatives to promote safe ridership.
“From the first mile to the last, no Californian should feel unsafe traveling to work, to school, or anywhere,” Min said in a statement. “This bill will help restore confidence in the safety of public transportation so that everyone — especially women and minorities — can ride from one place to the next without fear.”
The nonprofit groups Stop AAPI Hate, and the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative collaborated with lawmakers in one of the proposed legislation that would identify street discrimination and harassment as a public health issue.
According to Stop AAPI Hate, more than 9,000 hate crime incidents were reported from March 2020 to July 2021 against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Of those reported
From March 2020 to July 2021, Stop AAPI Hate collected reports of more than 9,000 hate incidents nationwide against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Of that number, nearly 40 percent occurred in California.
Two-thirds of these crimes were reported by women and a majority of them took place in public spaces or businesses.
Assembly members Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, and Dr. Akilah Weber, D-San Diego introduced the second bill, that would initiate a multi-year public education campaign raising awareness on harassment through the California Department of Public Health. The program would be accessible to residents with limited English proficiency.
A third bill is sponsored by Stop AAPI Hate and the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative but yet to be introduced. The legislation will focus on anti-Asian bias incidents in large businesses.
Data from Stop AAPI Hate show nearly a third of incidents recorded since the beginning of the pandemic took place at retailers, grocery stores, or restaurants, with harassment mostly coming from other customers.
With this measure, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing would develop a training resource for businesses to pilot a program that recognizes those that create welcoming spaces for all customers.
The program would also require large businesses offering in-person service to address customer-on-customer harassment based on protected characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and gender.
