Editor’s Note: Today at 1:30 pm, a Yolo County judge will hear a motion for a new trial, as well as conduct a sentencing hearing. On Monday, “national domestic violence organizations have released a statement in support of Nan-Hui Jo, an undocumented immigrant mother and survivor of domestic violence who was convicted of ‘child abduction’ in Yolo County last month. Ms. Jo’s sentencing hearing is tomorrow, April 28th, and we believe it is important for the voices of domestic advocates are heard given aggressive and unjust prosecution of Ms. Jo. Last week, Ms. Jo’s attorney filed a ‘motion to set aside the verdict’ citing serious errors made by the court that culminated in her unjust conviction.”
(From Press Release)
National domestic violence organizations from across the country released a statement in support of Nan-Hui Jo as she awaits her sentencing hearing tomorrow on April 28, 2015. Endorsers include: Asian Women’s Shelter (San Francisco, CA), Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence (San Francisco, CA), Battered Women’s Justice Project (Minneapolis, MN), Casa de Esperanza (St. Paul, MN), Domestic Violence Consortium (San Francisco, CA), Korean American Coalition to End Domestic Abuse (Oakland, CA), My Sister’s House (Sacramento, CA), National Latin@ Network (St. Paul, MN), National Network to End Domestic Violence (Washington, DC), and Women of Color Network (Harrisburg, PA). Over 150 organizations nationwide have also signed on in support of the Stand With Nan-Hui Campaign.
Nan-Hui Jo is a survivor of domestic violence and was convicted of child abduction in Yolo County on March 3, 2015. In December 2014, Ms. Jo was first tried for child abduction, resulting in a hung jury. Ignoring all evidence of domestic violence, including public testimony by her ex-partner admitting his physical and emotional violence against her, the Yolo County District Attorney aggressively pursued a retrial that culminated in Ms. Jo’s conviction.
“Regardless of Nan-Hui’s sentencing outcome, domestic violence organizations are standing up to say that we support her in her fight for freedom and reunification with her daughter,” states Beverly Upton, Executive Director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium.
Ms. Jo has been in Yolo County jail without possibility of bail and has not been allowed to see or speak to her daughter in over eight months.
“Nan-Hui’s case highlights the vulnerable situations that immigrants and survivors of domestic violence face,” says Orchid Pusey, Associate Director of the Asian Women’s Shelter based in San Francisco. “Limited English proficient mothers who flee from violent partners do not have the same access to information and resources as English speakers in the same situation.”
In 2009, Ms. Jo called the police twice because of physical abuse by her then-partner, and both times the police failed to take a report. The way police responded to Ms. Jo’s calls is not uncommon. Domestic violence calls constitute half of all violent crimes calls to police departments. However, at least 30% of cases where victims request police assistance fail to result in an official report.
“Nan-Hui’s case is a clear example of what often happens to survivors when they and their children flee an abusive partner. Victims are blamed and judged if they stay but also punished and criminalized when they try to protect themselves and their children. We are concerned about Nan-Hui and her daughter and about the greater impact and message this case sends to survivors who are deciding whether to leave an abusive partner,” says Kim Gandy, President and CEO of National Network to End Domestic Violence.
The statement highlights that: “Survivors of domestic violence should not be punished for defending themselves, protecting their children, and rebuilding their lives from the violence of an abuser. Our legal systems should not entrap survivors in multiple legal systems that relentlessly criminalize and re-victimize them. We will continue to watch closely and advocate for Nan-Hui Jo.”
From the Asian Women’s Shelter:
As national organizations dedicated to ending domestic violence, we support Nan-Hui Jo in her fight for freedom and reunification with her daughter. Nan-Hui Jo is a survivor of domestic violence, a mother, and an undocumented immigrant.
In 2009, Nan-Hui Jo fled with her child to her home country of South Korea. She fled to escape the physical and emotional violence of her ex-partner and father of her child, and to comply with her immigration status. Twice that year, Nan-Hui had called the police after domestic violence incidents, and both times the police had failed to take a report. After Nan-Hui left, however, her ex-partner reported her actions as kidnapping, a common tactic used by abusers to reassert their control. In July 2014, when entering Hawaii with her daughter for vacation and to explore the possibility of re-initiating contact between the child and her father, Nan-Hui was apprehended and arrested in an operation that involved Yolo County Child Abduction Unit, Honolulu Police Department, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
Nan-Hui was forcibly separated from her daughter and jailed immediately without the possibility of bail. In spite of having limited English language proficiency, Nan-Hui was given no interpretation for three whole days upon being jailed, until she appeared in court in Hawaii for the first time. She was transferred to Yolo County Jail, where she has been for almost nine months. Since July 2014, she has not been allowed to see or speak with her daughter. Authorities placed Nan-Hui’s daughter in the custody of Nan-Hui’s ex-partner, leaving the five-year-old with a man who had assaulted her mother and who does not speak her language.
We are deeply concerned by the Yolo District Attorney’s aggressive prosecution of a survivor of domestic violence. Though Nan-Hui’s ex-partner has publicly testified about his repeated violence against her, prosecuting attorney Steve Mount has insisted that this is not a case of domestic violence, dismissing the abuse as “just one incident.” Worse, in the face of evidence showing a pattern of threats and violence against Nan-Hui, Mount repeatedly alleged that Nan-Hui was the true abusive party in the relationship, even bringing a witness on the stand to testify that during an argument, Nan-Hui had “said the F word before.” Mount even referred to Nan-Hui as a “tiger mom,” revealing a disturbing pattern of racialized anti-immigrant sentiment in his prosecution.
This case highlights how the criminal-legal system can worsen the impact of domestic violence on survivors and their children. It shines a light on how the very systems that are supposed to help create safety and justice can instead further minimize abuse, criminalize survivors, and become another mechanism that batterers use to control and punish survivors in the long-term. We believe that Nan-Hui Jo is being criminalized by Yolo County because of the vulnerabilities she faces as a limited English proficient (LEP) undocumented immigrant. A system that should take into account her extremely limited access to information about her rights, domestic violence support resources, due process, family law, immigration law, and child abduction law, instead exploits these vulnerabilities in an aggressive (and expensive) display. Nan-Hui Jo’s case demonstrates precisely why so many immigrant survivors of domestic violence decide to stay in abusive relationships, and do not trust law enforcement or the legal system to help them.
Survivors of domestic violence should not be punished for defending themselves, protecting their children, and rebuilding their lives away from the violence of an abuser. Our legal systems should not entrap survivors in multiple legal systems that relentlessly criminalize and re-victimize them. Now, as Nan-Hui faces the possibility of being detained at an immigration detention facility and deported, we urge all domestic violence advocates to join us in the urgent call to take action for Nan-Hui. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separates thousands of families each year by deporting undocumented parents, causing trauma and stress for their children. We must support all survivors of domestic violence regardless of immigration status. We will continue to watch closely and advocate for Nan-Hui Jo.
Asian Women’s Shelter, San Francisco, CA
Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence, San Francisco, CA
Battered Women’s Justice Project, Minneapolis, MN
Casa de Esperanza, St. Paul, MN
Domestic Violence Consortium, San Francisco, CA
Korean American Coalition to End Domestic Abuse, Oakland, CA
My Sister’s House, Sacramento, CA
National Latin@ Network, St. Paul, MN
National Network to End Domestic Violence, Washington D.C.
Women of Color Network, Harrisburg, PA
Sure seems like she has upped her game, enlisting National Organizations who portray her as “ignorant” or “abused”.
But not Citizens? As the wife of a former service member, she has access to the VA and all the services in the Army as well, regardless of status, I used to work for the organization at Travis that helped them.
“Sure seems like she has upped her game, enlisting National Organizations who portray her as “ignorant” or “abused”.”
i don’t think she’s involved in any of these efforts. and mr. charlton admitted abusing her.
“But not Citizens?”
they said regardless of immigration status
Miwok
“ who portray her as “ignorant” or “abused”.
About the ignorant part, I am sure that we aren’t privy to her exact degree of understanding. As for the “abused” part, there is no “portrayal” needed. The perpetrator has admitted that he was physically abusive. It is incomprehensible to me how anyone can minimize or deny that grabbing someone by the throat and pushing them up against a wall is an act of abuse. So, a question for you, and any other “abuse” minimizer, just how many acts of abuse is one supposed to tolerate before one should flee ? Based on what I have seen of domestic violence, one is plenty, and if asked, I would urge a patient to get out of the situation into one which was safe for she and her child as domestic violence tends to escalate, not to magically disappear.