New data from a recent poll reveals that the majority of older Asian American and Pacific Islander women are suffering from the wave of anti-AAPI hate and racism brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Poll details: The recent poll, conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), asked over 3,500 women about the issues they care most about, as well as what motivated them to vote during the 2020 election.
- The participants of the survey were women aged 50 and older. NAPAWF billed the poll as the “largest survey of AAPI women ever conducted.”
- AAPI women said COVID-19 was the most important issue the government must address. However, East Asian, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islanders listed the economy as the second most important issue, while South Asians considered health care more important.
- Over 70% of women believed the current administration must work “towards ensuring everyone gets the same level of healthcare no matter their race, ethnicity, language, immigration status or culture.”
- A majority of those who answered want the government to provide an accessible path towards citizenship for immigrants.
Issues of racism and hate: About 70% of AAPI women who took the survey wanted Biden’s administration to “work towards ending discrimination against people because of their race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation or gender identity and work towards improving the criminal justice system with an eye toward racism.”
- The survey showed that almost three-fourths of AAPI women felt the impact of the growing anti-AAPI hate. According to Marketwatch, more than one in five East Asians said they have been called a racial slur, while 19% of Pacific Islander women said they experienced discrimination or harassment at work. Almost 20% of East Asian and South Asian women said they felt unsafe when going outside.
- Many of the women in the survey said their mental health suffered as a result of COVID-19.
Rising physical incidents: Physical attacks against AAPI people have increased from 10.8% in 2020 to 16.6% in 2021, national coalition Stop AAPI Hate said in its latest report. Some of these incidents were reported by NextShark.
- A man was allegedly accused of punching an elderly Asian woman near Broadway on Aug. 15.
- A couple reportedly attacked a Filipina nurse while giving free masks at a New York subway on Aug. 10.
- A man was captured on surveillance camera as he sucker-punched an Asian woman outside a flower shop in Lower Manhattan.
- A woman was arrested for assaulting an Asian beauty salon owner in Ohio on July 23.
- The NYPD has identified David Robinson as the suspect behind the botched robbery of a 58-year-old Asian woman in Manhattan’s Canal Street subway station on July 17.
Featured Image via NBC Bay Area
