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The National Organization of Asians and Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence (NAPIESV) mourns the deaths of the eight victims, including six Asian American women, in shootings at Atlanta-area businesses on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. We send our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones forever impacted by this senseless violence.

At the root of this violent incident are white supremacy, racism, patriarchy, and sexual violence. When a white man can kill 8 people and be deemed as simply “having a bad day” it speaks to the privilege that white men in America have and continue to have to cause violence and harm and for the State to normalize and empathize with it. When a white man claiming to have a “sexual addiction” decides he wants to kill Asian women at massage parlors, it speaks to the scapegoating of his problems on women, working-class people, and immigrants. It also speaks to the patriarchy he embodies through the lack of accountability he has for his own personal issues. And when his sexual desires lead him to deem it appropriate for him to “eliminate” his temptation by killing Asian women it speaks to the militarized and racialized sexual violence that intersects all of this.

We stand in solidarity with all of our Asian American siblings as we grieve and continue to work to dismantle the oppressions that allow these forms of violence to happen. As an organization, we remain committed to unpacking and exploring how oppression connects to sexual violence and working with our partners and allies to collectively dismantle all forms of violence and oppression.