We’re so excited that API Chaya has signed on to the Points of Unity! API Chaya works to end systemic oppression with a focus on organizing around and providing services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Asian & Pacific Islander and South Asian communities and survivors of human trafficking from all communities/backgrounds. API Chaya’s sign on means a great deal to us because one of the false rationales of growing and maintaining punishment systems is to support victims of sexual and domestic violence. But we know that prisons and jails are institutions that actually perpetrate sexual and gender violence, and that court processes and punishment fail to help survivors heal or prevent further violence. Stopping jail building and the expansion of punishment systems is key to stopping violence in our communities.
If you’re interested in learning more about how anti-violence activists have analyzed the problems with criminalization, here are some resources:
The Critical Resistance-INCITE! Statement: A ground-breaking statement from a leading prison abolition organization and a leading anti-violence organization talking about how anti-violence work and anti-prison work are connected.
The Color of Violence (ed. INCITE!): An anthology full of articles by activists about why and how criminalization fails to solve gender and sexual violence and what people are doing to actually get to the root causes of this violence and eliminate it.
Toward Transformative Justice by GenerationFIVE: An in-depth look at why and how criminalization fails to get to the root causes and address child sexual abuse, and how transformative justice can be used to build safety.
And here’s an awesome graphic about Transformative Justice from GenerationFIVE:
CLOSE THE YOUTH JAIL NOW! 