Advocacy Group Asks for More Support in Crimes Against Women

Drawing from the disappearance of nursing student  in May, a Bay Area feminist group plans to call on Hayward officials to ratchet up their policies regarding missing person searches.

The Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-feudalization, and Marginalization, or Af3irm, says the Hayward Police Department could have responded more diligently to the disappearance of Le, the 26-year-old San Mateo nursing student who went missing May 27 from Kaiser’s Hayward Medical Center, where she was interning.

The group also says that, in the initial stages of the investigation, police could have been more forthcoming to the family with information about their search efforts.

“Our understanding of how the police department worked with the family, the way in which they received the information — there was a lot of miscommunication, and it was very slow,” Af3irm spokesperson Amanda Martin said.

Though Af3irm is officially a Filipino-American group, Martin said it works with women of Asian and Pacific Islander backgrounds, as well as other women of color. Le is of Vietnamese descent.

Af3irm says Hayward police should “put legitimate resources toward Michelle’s case and coordinate with other local, state and federal entities,” while local enforcement agencies should “immediately respond to all kidnappings and other gendered crimes.”

While Le’s family is aware of Af3irm’s stance, they are not associated with the campaign.

“It’s great that groups are out there that show a lot of passion for Michelle’s case,” said Krystine Dihn, Le’s cousin. “We’re working very closely with the Hayward Police Department, so we want to make sure we maintain that relationship.”

Hayward police officials said the department’s relationship with Le’s family is strong, and that officers speak with the family at least once a day. Its detectives have worked exhaustively, alongside other law enforcement agencies, in the search for Le, they said.

“We fully understand the public concern and the fact many are anxious for answers,” Hayward police spokesperson Corey Quinn said by email. “The Hayward Police Department, with help from the FBI and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, has made considerable headway on the investigation. We continue to work on leads, many of which we cannot release publicly so as to not jeopardize the case.”

While some aspects of the case have frustrated police, such as sifting through false leads, Quinn said, investigators will continue searching for Le.

“We have not and will not give up on Michelle’s family, and we will not give up on this case,” Quinn said. 

While the campaign is in response to Le’s disappearance, Martin said it is intended to bring awareness to broader issues with crimes against immigrant women in the Bay Area.

“How these crimes are addressed is something we want to improve on,” Martin said. “We see it as a larger problem going on in the Bay Area. This is not an isolated incident that we see.”

Part of the problem, she said, is that immigrants often struggle communicating with authorities, or do not know how to contact authorities when a crime is committed against them.

The activist group also calls for expansion of the AMBER alert system to include reports of missing women. The alert system, which broadcasts on radio and television, is currently limited to alerting the public to missing children.

Martin said a coalition of local organizations will meet next week to explore ways to approach Hayward’s police department and city council.