The No Place for Hate legislative agenda, which has added LA Metro, the California Labor Federation, and Alliance for Girls to its growing list of supporters.
CAA’s leadership around the No Place for Hate policy agenda has started to yield results. Introduced in the California State Legislature earlier this February, the No Place for Hate agenda includes three bills — AB 2448, SB 1161, and AB 2549 — addressing hate and harassment in spaces accessible to the general public.
Amid rising hate incidents against women, girls, and other targeted groups, the agenda represents a unique approach to community safety and violence prevention. Instead of leaving individuals to fend for themselves , the agenda requires the government to take action, and declare street harassment a public health issue. One that warrants a public policy solution.
Hate and harassment is not limited to streets and sidewalks. While one of our three bills focuses on street harassment, the other two bills address incidents in public transit and large businesses.
Here is a bill-by-bill breakdown:
AB 2549 declares street harassment a public health problem.
The Ending Street Harassment Bill (AB 2549) declares street harassment a public health issue, setting in motion research and public education needed to design preventative solutions to common forms of harassment including leering, lewd gestures, and racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, or transphobic comments.
- Joint authors: Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), and Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber (D-San Diego)
- Co-author: Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose)
- Co-sponsors: California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and Stop AAPI Hate
SB 1161 protects the safety and welfare of public transit passengers.
The Increasing Safety for Public Transit Riders Bill (SB 1161) directs transit agencies to gather data and design solutions to increase ridership and ridership safety by addressing street harassment, which includes harassment that occurs on public transit and inside transit stations.
- Author: Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine)
- Co-sponsors: LA Metro and Stop AAPI Hate
AB 2448 addresses harassment in large businesses.
The Expanding Civil Rights Protections at Businesses Bill (AB 2448) directs big businesses – for example, chain supermarkets and drugstores – to do more to protect customers from harassment and discrimination from other customers.
- Author: Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco)
- Co-author: Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine)
- Sponsor: Stop AAPI Hate
Now that all three bills are charting a path through the California state legislature, we are excited to share that there is growing momentum behind the No Place for Hate agenda, thanks to the support of a growing coalition of community leaders.
Last week, we received the support of LA Metro, which will co-sponsor our campaign to make public transit safer and more accessible for people in need. We also earned the endorsement of the Alliance for Girls, which will organize actions around SB 1161 later this spring.
Word about the No Place for Hate agenda also spread to the general public, with coverage in mainstream news outlets like APEX Express, California Transit, and Teen Vogue.
We are just getting started. A combined 78 local, state, and national organizations have endorsed at least one of the three bills as well as countless individuals, ahead of the state hearings, which will begin in April.
Join our campaign to address street harassment. Click here to add your name to our petition.
