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3 Ways to Improve Access to Civil Protection Orders for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Survivors

April 30, 2024

By the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith & Credit

My friends told me I needed to get a restraining order, but I didn’t want to go through all the processes within the system . . . However, if I could go back and do it again, I would have gotten the restraining order. I was lucky things didn’t get worse.¹  

This candid reflection from an Asian American survivor of intimate partner violence (IPV) captures the sentiment that many survivors experience when faced with a decision to request a civil protection order (CPO). For Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) survivors, it can be even more difficult to wade through the barriers posed by the legal system while contending with their own cultural and language realities.  

Statistics regarding AAPI survivors are sobering: up to 55% experienced IPV in their lifetime, and 18% experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner². The sharp rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, which surged by 168% from 2020 to 2021³, and the isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, intensified hurdles for AAPI survivors seeking access to the protection order system. Yet there are actionable steps that system professionals including law enforcement, the judiciary or legal services staff, can take to enhance access to CPOs.  

1. Enhance Language Accessibility: Language access is vital. Research indicates that AAPI survivors are less likely to use mainstream IPV services, but such utilization increases with the availability of culturally relevant and language-specific resources.⁴ Interpretation and translation services are especially important as courts increase their use of digital platforms for petitioners to obtain CPOs. When system professionals recognize and proactively address the linguistic diversity among AAPI communities, this ensures that survivors can seek and obtain the protection they need.  

2. Develop an Attitude of “Cultural Humility”: Implementing “cultural humility” training is crucial in recognizing the nuanced impacts of both IPV and societal discrimination on AAPI survivors.⁵ Embracing “cultural humility” means acknowledging the limits of one’s cultural knowledge of another. This approach urges system professionals to engage in a respectful inquiry rather than making presumptions about an individual’s cultural background and experience. Asking questions and setting aside presumptions allow for a justice system that is responsive to the nuanced needs of all survivors.  

3. Facilitate Community-Based Support and Advocacy: AAPI survivors of IPV often face stigma and potential community ostracization when seeking help through the legal system. Such realities highlight the importance of fostering community-based support that includes strong advocacy and involvement from community and/or faith-based organizations. Collaboration with local leaders within AAPI communities can help shift a community-wide attitude to reduce the stigma attached to seeking help in IPV.⁶   

System professionals are in the unique position to influence the pathways to safety for AAPI survivors of IPV. Dismantling barriers to CPOs is one of many critical steps in constructing these pathways.    

 ¹ Jocelyn Yow, Now Is the Time for Asian American Women Like Me to Break the Taboo on Intimate Partner Violence, Ms. Mag. (Feb. 7, 2023), https://msmagazine.com/2023/02/07/asian-women-aapi-violence-monterey-park/. 

² Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Statistics: Violence Against API Women, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, https://www.api-gbv.org/about-gbv/statistics-violence-against-api-women/ (last visited April 4, 2024). 

³ The Leadership Conference Education Fund, Cause for Concern 2024: The State of Hate 15 (2023), https://civilrights.org/edfund/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Cause-For-Concern-2024.pdf; see also The White House, Fact Sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Equity and Opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities Across the Country (Jan. 20, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/20/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-advances-equity-and-opportunity-for-asian-american-native-hawaiian-and-pacific-islander-communities-across-the-country/. 

⁴ Lee, Donna H. "Intimate Partner Violence Against Asian American Women: Moving from Theory to Strategy." Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 28.2 (2015): 365-366. Available at https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cl_pubs/126; Hyunkag Cho & Woo Jong Kim, Intimate Partner Violence Among Asian Americans and Their Use of Mental Health Services: Comparisons with White Black and Latino Victims, J. Immigrant Minority Health (2012), DOI 10.1007/s10903-012-9625-3, available at http://news.msu.edu/media/documents/2012/07/b4652c5c-5d22-4283-88b8-c72528c87b17.pdf. 

⁵ Lee, Donna H. "Intimate Partner Violence Against Asian American Women: Moving from Theory to Strategy." Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 28.2 (2015): 366-367. Available at https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cl_pubs/126; 

⁶ Wang, Claire. "New Training Program Helps Korean-American Pastors Address Domestic Violence." NBC News. Published February 22, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/new-training-program-helps-korean-american-pastors-address-domestic-vi-rcna16197. 

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