The murders of Bao Yang, Lily Mai Rue Vang, and True Cindy Vang have caused an aching in the heart of our community. We send our deepest condolences to the surviving families of these atrocious crimes. We understand that there is much work needed to be done in the education of domestic violence in our community.

Domestic violence has traditionally been a discrete issue in the Hmong community where the recipients mediate through kwv tij and neej tsa. To our Hmong families, please seek out resources that will help and aid in the healing of families, one’s mental health, relationships, and even possibly, the saving of a life. To our community members in an abusive situation, there is never an excuse for violence or harm onto your body, safety or well-being. It is always a crime to cause harm onto any person’s body. Please do not hesitate in seeking help from us at the18 Clan Council, law enforcement, safety shelters, and other resources.

Murder-suicide is an issue that needs to be addressed in our community. We identify that a majority of murder-suicides are caused by our Hmong men.  This sort of behavior is not tolerated in our community.

To the families, leaders, men and women in our community, it is imperative to support and ensure the safety of domestic violence victims. Do not believe that an abuser would never hurt their loved ones. Support any mother, sister, aunt, daughter, father, uncle, and son who is showing any signs of abuse. Do this by condemning abusers’ actions and getting them the help they need.

As leaders in the Hmong community, we are continually promoting the

eradication of violence within our community. There is no place for domestic violence in our communities. In the following days, we intend to discuss and hold safe spaces for solutions to avoid and prevent instances like this from happening in the future.

Sincerely,

President Nao Houa Moua

Hmong 18 Council, Inc. (H18C) in Minnesota condemns domestic violence in all forms.

Domestic violence, whether exposed publicly for all to see or concealed behind closed doors, is destructive and leave behind wounds that thwarts the social, emotional, psychological, and cognitive progression of our community and its members. For H18C, whose calling is to unite the voice of the community by sharing and planning for its prosperity, we are adamant in our position and values that there can be no place in our community for domestic violence. We are mindful of the structural and cultural inequities within our community. In efforts to bring attention to these and other gender inequities, we established a Gender Equity Taskforce last year to begin the hard work of trying to find ways to address them.

Everyone should have a right to a safe space and home. We call on all community members to be more responsible in their actions, to help stop the violence, and to dialogue with us on how equity might look like in our community- intertwining Hmong traditional values and practices while also providing opportunities for all community members to contribute and prosper.

Likewise, in bringing unity and prosperity to our community, the H18C encourages all community members to be mindful on specific incidents of alleged domestic violence. We encourage everyone to always be respectful and kind to one another.

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The Hmong 18 Council was established in 1997 after a distraught Hmong mother took the lives of her six children. Hmong community leaders representing 18 clans came together to assure that the Hmong population would have the knowledge of and access to medical, social service and judicial resources in order to avert another tragedy. The Council focuses on
prevention and attempts to resolve conflicts through mediation to avert a crisis.

We invite you to join us. To learn more about our community-changing strategies and goals, check out our website: www.Hmong18Council.org