Asian American Women - Ford Foundation

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sible services and breaking the silence on issues not previously considered appropriate for public discussion in many Asian communities. Asian American Women: Issues, Concerns, and Responsive Human and Civil Rights Advocacy speaks to foundations and charitable organizations; local, state, and federal level policy makers; advocates for social justice; universities and scholars; and members of the public committed to strengthening democracy. I hope the courage and integrity with which Asian American women speak through Lora Jo Foo’s work on this report inspires and challenges institutions and individuals to join in this conversation and respond to this call to action. Barbara Y. Phillips Program Officer Human Rights Peace and Social Justice Program The Ford Foundation 9 Preface
Introduction A sian American Women: Issues, Concerns, and Responsive Human and Civil Rights Advocacy is divided into three parts. Part One covers Economic Justice, Part Two covers Health and Well-being, and Part Three looks at specific Asian American communities that receive very little attention. Each chapter of “Asian American Women: Issues, Concerns, and Responsive Human and Civil Rights Advocacy” places the issues Asian American women face in the broader economic, legal, political, and/or historical contexts of American society and describes specifically how Asian American women are affected. With the exception of domestic violence and issues of lesbian women that affect Asian American women across the socioeconomic spectrum, the human and civil rights violations identified in this report affect primarily Asian immigrant women at the bottom of the economic ladder where poverty rates can be as high as 63% and limited English proficiency (LEP) is over 70% in certain Southeast Asian communities. The chapters make assessments of the advocacy needed to address the issues and provide background information about some of the organizations that do the work. The report focuses on the grassroots and coalition efforts that have been the mainstay of the activism of Asian American women. Each chapter concludes with suggestions for action. Part One, Economic Justice, looks at the class, race, and gender dynamics that work together to depress the socio-economic status of Asian American women. Chapter One deals with the new Welfare Reform system that discriminates against and denies equal access to public benefits to Asian immigrant women and their families. Chapter Two discusses the human rights violations suffered by Asian women who are trafficked into the United States and subjected to severe labor and sexual exploitation. Chapters Three and Four examine the various industries where the majority of poor Asian American women work and how they are trapped in the lowest paying jobs, laboring excessively long hours, often in unsafe workplaces, facing discrimination, and with little to no opportunity to move up the ladder. Part Two, Health and Well-Being, examines the particular health concerns of Asian American women. The US health care system is struggling to meet the needs of the US citizen population, the majority of whom speak English; the needs of Asian women are barely visible. There is very little data on the health status of Asian women, and health care providers are guided instead by stereotypes and assumptions that can lead to misdiagnosis or worse. Chapter Five looks at the health care disparities between Asian women and the general population and points to the urgent need to look at differences among Asian ethnic groups. Chapters Six and Seven address sexual and reproductive health and domestic violence; issues that have long been considered taboo subjects in Asian American communities. However, the consequences of silence around these issues can have fatal consequences and must be addressed. 11 Introduction
Page 1 and 2: Asian American Women Issues, Concer
Page 3 and 4: Contents Preface 7 Introduction 11
Page 5: make the systemic changes needed to
Page 9 and 10: large numbers until the mid 1800’
Page 11 and 12: Table 1. Ten States with Largest As
Page 13 and 14: Figure 2. California’s Ethnic Pie
Page 15 and 16: Acknowledgements This book is the j
Page 17 and 18: Southeast Asian community members p
Page 19 and 20: with Temporary Assistance for Needy
Page 21 and 22: Table 3. Adult Participation in Sel
Page 23 and 24: expires. Other states, including Ne
Page 25 and 26: 2. Denial of Access to Job Training
Page 27 and 28: 87% of the legal immigrant househol
Page 29 and 30: Table 4. State Funded Substitute Pr
Page 31 and 32: 3. Mandatory Reporting Welfare refo
Page 33 and 34: Ensuring Equal Access to TANF, Food
Page 35 and 36: Recommendations for Action On the
Page 37 and 38: The Institute for Wisconsin’s Fut
Page 39 and 40: From the Asian American Legal Defen
Page 41 and 42: and Africa. The primary Asian sourc
Page 43 and 44: works. Though their connections are
Page 45 and 46: with great disparities in wealth su
Page 47 and 48: Advocacy Needed Advocacy for Victim
Page 49 and 50: increased prosecutions. 19 Advocacy
Page 51 and 52: As part of its advocacy work, the C
Page 53 and 54: References Associated Press, Police
Page 55 and 56: Picketers at a 1982 demonstration o
Page 57 and 58:
more than half of the country’s 2
Page 59 and 60:
San Francisco Historically, San Fra
Page 61 and 62:
The Root Causes of Sweatshops Four
Page 63 and 64:
Holding Retailers and Manufacturers
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sumers. In August 1995, 72 Thai imm
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The Anti-Sweatshop Organizations Fo
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or are closed without explanation.
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References The Center for Economic
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From "Picturing Change," a project
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operate the computerized machines t
Page 77 and 78:
piecework for rush jobs or orders p
Page 79 and 80:
Project (WE LeaP) that in the past
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which grants employees the right to
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Homecare Workers Unionize-A Labor S
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higher than minimum wages, they rea
Page 87 and 88:
However, their impressive successes
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References High-Tech Sweatshops Aba
Page 91 and 92:
Part 2 Health and Well-Being
Page 93 and 94:
Part 2 Chapter 5 Health Care Need
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Health Disparities for Asian Americ
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female suicide deaths in California
Page 99 and 100:
etter health of the infant which tr
Page 101 and 102:
ians have overall poorer health tha
Page 103 and 104:
Recommendations for Action The best
Page 105 and 106:
Women of Color Health Data Book: Ad
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Part 2 Chapter 6 Sexual and Repro
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health and social problems discusse
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Is Depo-Provera popular because of
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Cultural Acceptance of Teen Pregnan
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harassment policies that are now en
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References Asians and Pacific Islan
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English San Francisco-based Asian
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example, Santa Clara County in Cali
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Laws That Traps Asian Women in Viol
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fear of becoming a deportable publi
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as a threat to social orders that p
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let alone the country. All these gr
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Recommendations for Action Address
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Part 3 Special Focus
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Part 3 Chapter 8 Hmong Women in t
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US, and some information on Hmong c
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In this way, a woman could be force
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Adjusting to Life in the US 1. The
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Sexual Assaults Sexual violence has
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level of violence against women. It
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women in Minnesota are also struggl
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The Sacramento, California-based Hm
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Southeast Asian American Mutual Ass
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Part 3 Chapter 9 1 Hawai’i-The
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island life, economic, social, and
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white faculty resent having to answ
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than Hawai’ian). With the five-ye
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South Afrikaners and Israeli settle
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References Bill, Teresa, Into the M
Page 165 and 166:
Part 3 Chapter 10 Asian American
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ights. This distance prevents these
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Facing Cultural Isolation, Racism,
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and inconsistently applied bureaucr
Page 173 and 174:
movement. They have also been invol
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Appendix: List of Interviewees Chap
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Chapter 6 Sexual and Reproductive F
Page 179 and 180:
About the Author Lora Jo Foo was bo
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Asian American Women - Ford Foundation

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