Resources and Calls to Action Against Anti-Asian Racism

Supports and mental health resources

Hearing news about anti-Asian racism and violence is upsetting and may affect members of the Asian community more acutely. If you are in need of support, please reach out.

• My SSP: SFU students can access free 24/7 mental health support through the My SSP app. Culturally relevant support options are available; you can request to speak to a counsellor who shares your language and/or racial identity. 
• See a Counsellor: free, confidential, time-limited supports are available to all registered SFU students
• Tending to Anti-Asian racism: SFU Health & Counselling has created this facilitated group to be a safe and confidential space to support students from the Asian community who feel alienated and/or targeted by anti-Asian racism.
• Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP): the SFU Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) provides confidential, professional assistance to help SFU employees and their family members resolve problems that affect your personal and work lives
• Sexual Violence Support and Prevention Office: A diverse range of supports are available for campus community members including students, staff and faculty who are impacted by sexual violence
• Critical Incident Support: A Critical Incident (or Significant Event) is normally a traumatic event that creates a strong emotional reaction. This reaction may interfere with an individual’s ability to manage normal day-to-day activities or have a large negative impact on the people involved or community members that have in some way been involved. Learn about the supports available.

Every member of our university community has the right to be treated with respect and dignity and to be welcomed and supported on our campus. No person should be targeted in any way or subjected to discrimination resulting from a misplaced perception that they may be a carrier of a communicable disease based on their perceived disability, race, ancestry, place of origin or otherwise. This kind of targeting is discriminatory and a breach of university policy (GP18). 

If you feel you have been targeted based on any of the above factors, you should discuss the matter with the Human Rights office by emailing hroadmin@sfu.ca or calling 778-782-4446. This office will invite you in for a confidential conversation about the policies and response options available. If you are on campus and would like to request a Safe Walk escort, you can call the Campus Security non-emergency line at 778-782-7991.

If you are the target or a witness of a racist incident against members of the Asian diaspora in Canada, you can also file a report through Elimin8hate. Data collected through this initiative will be used to develop strategies, design interventions, raise awareness, advocate for policies and improve outcomes for Asian communities.
 

Historical context and information to help guide conversations

Historical context in Canada

• A historical timeline of anti-Asian racism in Canada
• History of wrongs towards B.C.'s Chinese-Canadians

Information specific to events in Georgia

• Asian American Journalist Association – Guidance on Atlanta Shootings
  • Note: while these guidelines were created for the purpose of guiding newsrooms in their reporting, this information also covers some of the history and many complexities related to this case and can be useful for guiding conversations
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta: Statement – “Georgia’s Asian American Leaders Call for Community-Centered Response After Six Asian Women Are Murdered” 
• Stopping AAPI Hate - Reports - for context around Asian hate crimes in America
• The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum is sharing regular updates on Twitter
   

Organizations to support

• The Downtown East Side Women’s Centre is one the few safe spaces within the Downtown East Side exclusively for self-identified women and their children. The centre provides practical support to over 500 women, children and seniors, including (but not limited to) their Chinese Seniors Outreach Program
• SWAN Vancouver provides culturally-specialised supports and advocacy to im/migrant women engaged in indoor sex work
• The Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice supports youth and low-income immigrant seniors in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside through intergenerational relationship buildling and by helping seniors overcome language and cultural barriers to services that meet their basic needs
• The WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre provides support services to survivors of sexualized violence who have shared experiences of gender marginalization: cis and trans women, Two-Spirit, trans and/or non-binary people
• Red Canary Song is the only grassroots Chinese massage parlor worker coalition in the U.S. who also organize transnationally with Asian sex workers across the diaspora in Toronto, Paris, and Hong Kong
   

Additional tools and resources

• The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion has compiled a list of support and awareness resources on anti-Asian racism, including culturally appropriate mental health supports and organizations that are spreading awareness about anti-Asian racism in Canada
• The Human Resources Student Association of BC has compiled a website with anti-Asian racism resources, including further information on the history of anti-Asian racism in Canada, reporting lines and organizations to support.