The Hmong American Women’s Association

Helping Hmong
American Culture

The Hmong American Women’s Association

The Hmong American Women’s Association (HAWA) was founded in 1993 by a group of thirteen community women empowered by a passion to advocate, organize and share concerns reflected by women in the larger Hmong community. HAWA has served countless Hmong women, youth and children in Milwaukee and continues to provide safe spaces for Hmong families, and to inspire and foster Hmong women leaders who have made enormous contributions to the Hmong community throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Who We Serve

Victims and survivors of domestic/sexual violence
Families of victims/survivors
LGBTQ
Southeast Asian youth and children
Hmong individuals preparing for U.S. Citizenship
Hmong community to provide education around the U.S. civic process

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Stats

Stats per demographic:

Demographic Selection
In the United States, on average, 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner …this equates to more than 10 million women and men abused in one year.
(CDC, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey)

1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence
(DOJ/Nonfatal Domestic Violence Special Rpt)

72% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these murder suicides are female.

1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence annually and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.
(CDC/DOJ/Report Child exposure to DV)
1 in 3 Black women and 1 in 4 Black men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
(NRCDV)

African American women victims of DV are disproportionately exposed to DV at higher rates and experience more severe injuries including higher rates of homicide and data suggests this increased exposure is due to structural and racial inequalities.
(Taft, Bryant-Davis, Woodward, Tillman, and Torres, (2009); Campbell, J. C. 1992; Stockman, et. al 2014; Richie, B., 2012) (West, Carolyn M. 2013; Stockman, et al. (2014)

Black victims of domestic and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) suffer more due to their increased exposure that correlates to structural inequalities for Black victims in particularly Milwaukee WI.
(Levine, Marc V., 2019)

Poverty drastically increases African American’s exposure to DV. “The typical black household in Milwaukee earns less than half the typical white household. And “while the white poverty rate in Milwaukee of 7.6 percent is one of the lowest in the country,” the report notes, “the Black poverty rate of 36.4 percent is among the highest in the country”.
(Institute for Policy Studies, 2019)
In 2016, the National Institute of Justice reported that 84.3% of AI women will experience violence in their lifetime including:

In 2016, 5,712 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls (MMIWG) cases were reported in the US, but only 116 of those cases were logged in the DOJ database.

Homicide is the third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women between 10 and 24 years of age and the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years of age.

In the U.S. and Canada, an average of 40 percent of the women who were victims of sex trafficking identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native.
In a 2011 Peaceful Families DV Survey, 31% of American Muslims reported experiencing abuse within an intimate partner relationship and 53% of American Muslims reported experiencing some form of domestic violence during their lifetime.

In the post 9/11 era, Muslim communities generally do not report abuse to avoid any association with violence. By disclosing violence, they feel like they are perpetuating the notion that Muslim communities are violent.

Survey also showed that over 82% of Muslim women will not go to standard shelters because they believe their cultural and religious needs are not accommodated.

A study of 57 closed-case files from an American Muslim women’s shelter revealed that 37% had experienced multiple types of abuse, 23% experienced physical abuse, and 12% experienced emotional abuse.
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In a D&R 2020 Trans Needs Assessment, we learned that 80% of all respondents have experienced some form of intimate partner violence.

64% of respondents have used sex work for money or other item of value & 20% were forced, deceived, or coerced to participate.

In our 2019 Pridefest survey, 79% of LGBTQ people stated they wish to talk to get their survivor services from an LGBTQ org, not a mainstream domestic/sexual violence org.

When asked, 42% of respondents stated they wanted someone I trust who can connect me to resources.
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The Hmong American Women’s Association

Helping Hmong
American Culture