Chair Salaam questions OPHC on responding to spikes in anti-Buddhist and anti-female crimes
Chair Salaam asks how OPHC responds to spikes in specific communities like anti-Buddhist and anti-female hate crimes. Ramjatin describes using seed grants for rapid response, including working with Bridging Cultures Group led by Dr. Debbie Almontaser to bring diverse women together after Islamophobic incidents against women.
Amidst an overall decrease in hate crimes across the city last year, we did see spikes in crimes against certain communities, including anti-Buddhist crimes and hate crimes against women.
How does OPHC respond to this type of trend, and what does your work with community groups look like, and how does OPHC engage with other agencies?
Thank you for that question.
Part of our initiative is exactly those seed grants that I mentioned to you before.
Those seed grants are specifically geared to meet the moment when we do see spikes of hate crimes across New York City.
Just this past year, in the first quarter of this year, we saw an increase in Islamophobic hate crimes towards women, but interestingly committed by women, against women.
And immediately we sprung into action and we worked with a group called Bridging Cultures, Inc., Bridging Cultures Group, Inc., who is led by Dr.
Debbie Almontesar.
And this program brings diverse females, any female-identifying person, into one room where we are building allyship, we're learning about leadership skills, and also inclusion and equity.
These programs, such as this one, is how we meet the moment when hate crimes do fluctuate across communities.
Additionally, as I mentioned before, we're working with a group called Central Queens Against Hate, where we are providing community access and resources to meet the moment of the rise in hate crimes in Queens as well.