Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence

The Interpretation Technical Assistance and Resource Center (ITARC) works to improve systems responses to limited English proficient (LEP) victims by providing technical assistance and training on developing and implementing language-accessible services. Technical assistance and training include but are not limited to civil rights compliance and language access planning, interpreting for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and building pools of qualified interpreters through workshops on interpretation ethics and skills building.

The Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence is a national resource center on domestic violence, sexual violence, trafficking, and other forms of gender-based violence in Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Its mission is to disrupt gender-based violence, which causes physical, sexual, emotional, spiritual and economic harm within AAPI communities throughout the U.S. and its territories. To that end, it works together with and within its community to uplift the voices and experiences of AAPI communities impacted by violence, build capacity through training and technical support for organizations serving AAPI communities, engage allied communities and systems to create shifts in gendered cultural norms and address injustices, educate communities to mobilize them to prevent gender-based violence, and advocate for policies and practices that ensure access to essential rights and services. QUICK FACTS FOR 2022-2023: 14 reports, factsheets and training materials were produced or substantially revised; 68 training workshops and webinars were held; 483 technical assistance consultations were provided; 2,921 advocates from local, state, national and federal programs were trained; 13,496 publications, including training materials, were disseminated. CRITICAL ISSUES regarding gender-based violence affecting Asian and Pacific Islander victims/survivors included: (1) abusive international marriages, (2) culturally-specific models of domestic violence intervention and prevention, (3) domestic violence dynamics in Asian communities, (4) services for refugees who are victims of domestic and sexual violence, (5) elder abuse, (6) forced marriage, (7) health impacts of domestic violence, (8) female genital mutilation/cutting, (9) homicide prevention, (10) language access in courts, systems, and digital services, (11) safety planning for immigrant victims of domestic violence, (12) LGBTQ intimate partner violence, (13) movement building to end gender violence, (14) policy analysis of the impact of all the listed issues on immigrant and refugee victims, (15) research and statistics, (16) sexual violence, (17) survivor-centered advocacy, (18) trafficking domestic and international, (19) trauma-informed approaches, (20) COVID-19 related issues, (21) impacts of the rise in AAPI hate, and (22) data collection and program evaluation. Advocacy networks and trainings addressing ethnic-specific domestic violence included: Hmong, Korean, Middle Eastern/Northern African, Muslim, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, South Asian, and Southeast Asian. API-GBV SERVED as a resource to (1) advocates in over 160 community-based organizations serving Asian and Pacific Islander victims, (2) state coalitions and state administrators, (3) national Technical Assistance providers, (4) national policy advocacy organizations, (5) researchers, (6) international organizations, and (7) federal agencies including: Department of State, Health and Human Services/Family Youth Services Bureau and Family Violence Prevention Services Office, Office of Womens Health, Office on Violence Against Women, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, and Office for Victims of Crime.

ITARC provided training and technical assistance on language access to multiple law enforcement agencies, statewide domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, municipalities, community-based mainstream and culturally specific domestic violence and sexual assault organizations, courts, judicial conferences, national conferences focused on victim advocacy and legal representation of victims of crime, training to enhance the interpretation skills of bilingual advocates, and VOCA and OVW-funded direct service grantees.Language access trainings were incorporated into multiple law enforcement agencies,including Shelby County Sheriff, Memphis PD, Portland Police Bureau, and Salem police Department. Supporting VOCA Administrators are implementing language access across VOCA funded programs, created Healing Across Language, a 40-hour trauma informed interpreter training curriculum.