Work In Progress: Emotional Abuse and Violence in Our Communities

Guest Post by Juliet Shen.



I have always been a vocal person.

For four (almost five) years, I ran a blog called Fascinasians where I shared content about race, gender, feminism, and current events. Those who know me know that I am never one to shy away from conversation, and will probably be the first to openly discuss something I feel is unjust or wrong.

It has now been six months since my last relationship ended. After joining a sorority whose chapter philanthropy is fighting sexual violence, my passion for fighting domestic abuse grew and grew. Every friend who came to me and every person who shared their story with me stoked my fire. I did workshops on Asian American feminism and talked about toxic masculinity and warned people what to look out for to identify a dangerous situation or relationship. I never once thought that I would have to do it myself.

'Top Chef' Paul Qui arrested for assaulting girlfriend

Renowned Austin chef/restaurateur accused of assaulting girlfriend after a night of drugs and alcohol.



Damn, what the hell happened to Paul Qui? The renowned Austin chef, restaurateur and winner of Top Chef season 9 was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in a drug and alcohol-fueled rage.

Austin 'Top Chef' winner Paul Qui arrested, accused of assaulting girlfriend

Qui, the 2012 winner of Bravo's hit cooking competition series, was arrested on charges unlawful restraint, a Class A misdemeanor, as well as assault causing bodily injury to a family member, a Class A misdemeanor.

Austin police responded to Qui's apartment in East Austin on Saturday morning after receiving a call from Qui's friend who said "his friend and his girlfriend were fighting" in the apartment. According to court documents, officers arrived at the apartment to find Qui with "blood all over his face, arms, legs and clothing," the apartment in complete disarray, and a woman -- Qui's girlfriend -- crying and clutching a small child.

According to the victim, Qui had become jealous and violent after a night of drugs and alcohol.

Domestic Violence Survivor Faces Child Abduction Charges, Deportation | #StandWithNanHui

By Jenn Fang. Cross-posted from Reappropriate.



This is a terrible story of the American legal system getting it really wrong.

Nan-Hui Cho is a single mother of 6-year-old daughter Hwi. Cho is currently imprisoned in the Yolo County jail facing trumped up child abduction charges after she made the impossible decision to take her daughter home to South Korea, in hopes of escaping the physical and emotional abuse inflicted upon her by the child's father, Iraq war veteran Jesse Charlton.

For five years, Cho cared for Hwi in South Korea; for that same five years, Charlton sent over a hundred emails to Nan-Hui that ranged from concern to threats of hiring a bounty hunter. Unbeknownst to Cho, Charlton also filed charges against Nan-Hui for child abduction. When Cho -- a Korean national in the process of applying for permanent residency -- applied to travel to Hawaii to check out schools for the American-born Hwi, ICE was notified by the US embassy in Seoul and Cho was arrested and sent to Yolo County to stand trial on the child abduction charges. Meanwhile, Hwi was sent to live with Charlton -- a father she didn't know -- who has since denied Cho a chance to see her daughter.

Cho's first trial last December on the child abduction charges ended in a hung jury. Now, she faces retrial and, if she loses, will likely be deported without ever having a chance to see her daughter again.

Man kills wife, baby twin sons in murder-suicide

Scott and Mei Kum Jones were apparently planning to divorce

Tragic news out of the Boston area... In Arlington, a married couple and their twin baby sons were found dead inside their home on Monday afternoon in an apparent murder-suicide: Murder-suicide seen in deaths of parents, two babies, in Arlington.

According to officials, it's likely that 43-year-old Scott Jones strangled his wife, 43-year-old Mei Kum Jones, and slashed the throats of their twin sons Colt and Cameron, before taking his own life. The boys would have have turned one-year-old next week. Investigators have reportedly found the knife used in the murders.

The couple was apparently going through marital problems, and were planning to divorce. Police were previously called to the residence because Scott Jones once threatened to kill himself.

Man attacks wife with meat cleaver in Chinatown

Holy crap. News of a crazy-ass incident in New York's Chinatown... On Sunday, police arrested a man who brutally attacked his wife with a meat cleaver. He reportedly just started furiously hacking at her, right there on Canal Street: Firefighters Intervene in Cleaver Attack on Woman in Chinatown.

The suspect, 28-year-old Ming Guang Huang, was seen on the street loudly arguing with his wife, 24-year-old Jinyia You, when he pulled out the meat cleaver and attacked, hitting her several times. Thankfully, two firefighters stationed across the street came to her aid and were able to restrain the man.

Part of the attack was caught on video:

Mandevilla: a short film about domestic violence

I recently heard from filmmaker Andrew Oh, who recently completed a short film, Mandevilla, for the Korean American Family Service Center, Office on Violence Against Women, and the Department of Justice, on the subject of domestic violence in the Korean American community. Take a look: