December 12, 2016

Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker New York City Council City Hall New York, NY 10007

Hon. Vanessa Gibson, Chair New York City Council Public Safety Committee City Hall New York, NY 10007

Hon. Laurie A. Cumbo & Hon. Helen Rosenthal, Co-Chairs New York City Council Women’s Caucus City Hall New York, NY 10007

Dear Speaker Mark-Viverito, Chair Gibson and Co-Chairs Cumbo & Rosenthal:

As feminist leaders and organizations committed to the improvement of the lives of women (cisgender and transgender) and gender non-conforming people, we write to strongly urge you as Council leaders to advance the Right to Know Act towards passage without any further delay. Each day that delays enactment of the Right to Know Act allows the NYPD to avoid much needed reforms and accountability that would be afforded by this common-sense legislation, leaving women across New York City without its critical protections. Following the recent election of a president who boasts about sexual assault, touts hyper-aggressive policing, and targets immigrant and undocumented communities, it is imperative for our city to demonstrate leadership by protecting the rights of all women and gender non-conforming people in their interactions with the .

As reported by the New York Times, women experience gender-specific forms of humiliation and abuse during police interactions, including feeling “violated,” “embarrass[ed]” and “sexually intimidate[ed].”1 Researchers at the CUNY Graduate Center found that 2 in 5 young women in New York City report sexual harassment by police officers, and LGB youth are twice as likely to report negative sexual contact with police.2 Young women frequently describe inappropriate comments and touching during police stops, describing them as “stop and grope.” Transgender and gender non-conforming people also report ongoing unlawful searches to assign gender, often in the context of street stops. These patterns are consistent with those across the country, as recently highlighted in the U.S. Justice Department’s recent report on policing in Baltimore and the African American Policy Forum “Say Her Name” report. The recently filed class action lawsuit against the City for the discriminatory arrests of women of color and transgender women under loitering statute, 240.37, only reinforces the serious, systemic and continuing nature of the problem

We know that we share a commitment with you to advancing empowerment for women and eliminating continued injustices faced by them in New York City and beyond. The Right to Know Act is consistent with those goals by providing essential protections from police abuses for women,

1 Wendy Ruderman, For Women in Street Stops: Deeper Humiliation, New York Times, August 7, 2012 2 Brett G. Stoudt, Michelle Fine, and Madeline Fox, Growing Up Policed in the Age of Aggressive Policing Policies, 56 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 1331 (2011); Fine, M., N. Freudenberg, Y. Payne, T. Perkins, K. Smith, and K. Wanzer, “Anything can happen with police around”: Urban youth evaluate strategies of surveillance in public places. Journal of Social Issues 59:141-58 (2003).

gender non-conforming and all New Yorkers, and we look to partner with you and support your leadership to pass the legislation into law. The related private agreement with the NYPD that was disclosed in July falls short of the legislation and is inadequate in accomplishing the goals we all support by excluding some of the most important provisions of the Right to Know Act. The NYPD has shown an inability to police itself, and it cannot be allowed to continue with this failure when the safety of all women, gender non-conforming people, and New Yorkers remains exposed to police abuses. The Council can help address this through legislation.

The Right to Know Act has widespread support within the Council and throughout communities, and it specifically addresses and is shaped by women and gender nonconforming people’s unique experiences of sexual harassment and assault, as well as unlawful “gender searches” during police interactions. The agreement with the NYPD disregards these specific issues by excluding key provisions of the Right to Know Act that are necessary to address the power imbalance in police interactions. This power imbalance, experienced by most civilians in police interactions, is compounded for women, girls and gender non-conforming people throughout society and is what facilitates police abuses.

We encourage you to take courageous, principled action on this issue, ending the delay in delivering these important reforms for women, gender non-conforming people and all New Yorkers by leading the Council to swiftly pass the Right to Know Act.

As New York City and the nation confront widespread police abuses, the experiences of all women and gender non-conforming people – particularly Black, Latinx and other women of color and gender non- conforming people of color – are too often overlooked. Yet in New York City, rates of racial disparities in stops of women are identical to those among stops of men,3 and – as documented during Council hearings on the Community Safety Act – women experience similar forms of , verbal and physical abuse as other members of our communities.

The Council’s own Young Women’s Initiative emphasized the importance of confronting and addressing these realities, recommending enactment of provisions identical to those of the Right to Know Act.4 We believe the legislation, being comprehensive, thoughtful and based on women’s experiences with these issues, is most consistent with YWI and our shared goals, making it the right approach.

The agreement’s exclusion of common police interactions in which officers would be required to proactively identify and explain themselves, as would be required by the Right to Know Act, leaves all New Yorkers without protection, and particularly women. Proactive identification and explanation of the reason for police interactions are critical to preventing and ensuring accountability for police sexual harassment and assault, which often go unreported because women and gender nonconforming people don’t know the identity of the officers responsible. Additionally, it stands to reason that officers would be much less likely to engage in such behavior if required to identify themselves.

The agreement’s lack of the Right to Know Act protections for consent searches is immensely concerning, given that women and gender nonconforming people experience such searches as coercive, intimidating, and in some cases sexualized. Additionally, in the absence of any legal justification, searches conducted to assign gender based on anatomy are often conducted as “consent” searches – it is therefore critical to trans and gender nonconforming people to know that they have the right to refuse such searches.

3 Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw and Andrea J. Ritchie, Say Her Name: Resisting Against Black Women (July 2015). 4 http://www.shewillbe.nyc/YWI-Report-and-Recommendations.pdf, p.77

Unfortunately the agreement completely removes the Right to Know Act’s assurance that officers provide affirmative instruction that a person may DECLINE a consent search, as well as its requirement that objective proof of voluntary/informed consent be obtained. Given the developed feminist discourse of consent in the context of protecting all women from sexual assault, the agreement’s approach to consent is outdated and regressive, ignoring the power imbalance between a police officer with a gun and an ordinary civilian in an encounter. There is a significant difference between being clearly told upfront by an officer that there’s a right to refuse a search by law, as the Right to Know Act requires, and an officer of the law with a gun saying “can I search your bag” (the agreement essentially maintains a status quo that has proven coercive). The Council’s Young Women’s Initiative acknowledged the importance of these details, recommending the Right to Know Act’s mandated objective documentation of voluntary and informed consent, which we agree is crucial.

Our work prioritizes the advancement of all women and gender non-conforming people through leadership development, the elimination of inequities, and tackling overlooked needs. Your work has often similarly advanced such goals. Women and gender non-conforming people have led the movement for around the nation and here in New York, and their work to advance local police accountability reforms through the Council’s Young Women’s Initiative was a prideful moment for New York City.

Women, gender non-conforming people and all communities impacted by police abuses have been forced to endure them for too long. As leaders of the City Council, your leadership can help realize the changes envisioned by YWI and the work of so many women engaged in fighting to change these continuing unfortunate realities. We understand that women in public office face challenges that often go unrecognized and underappreciated, but we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in the pursuit of empowering outcomes that can transform justice and safety for women, gender non-conforming, and all New Yorkers in common police interactions. We cannot afford to fall short in delivering meaningful changes that produce a new reality on the ground for our communities.

Women and gender non-conforming people have always been at the forefront of social change and justice. Let us move forward together in continuing that legacy by swiftly passing the Right to Know Act into law. We look forward to hearing back from you regarding how we can provide assistance and support towards passing the Right to Know Act without any further delay.

Sincerely,

Organizations: 1. MomsRising 2. Girls for Gender Equity 3. Adhikaar 4. Advocates for Children of New York 5. African American Office of Gay Concerns 6. African American Policy Forum 7. Alliance of Families for Justice 8. Amnesty International USA 9. The Anti-Violence Project 10. Arab-American Family Support Center 11. Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

12. Atlas: DIY 13. Black Alliance for Just Immigration 14. The Black Institute 15. -NYC 16. Black Women’s Blueprint 17. Black Women’s Roundtable of the National Coalition on Black Civic Engagement 18. The Brotherhood-SisterSol 19. BYP100 NYC Chapter 20. Center for Law & Social Justice 21. Community Voices Heard 22. Damayan Migrant Workers Association 23. Day One 24. Demos 25. DRUM – Desis Rising Up and Moving 26. Family Values @ Work 27. Feminist Teacher 28. FIERCE 29. Freeborn County Crime Victim’s Crisis Center 30. Girls Educational & Mentoring Services: GEMS 31. Harriet’s Apothecary 32. INCITE! 33. Lady Parts Justice League 34. Lambda Legal 35. Law@theMargins 36. LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent 37. Ms. Foundation for Women 38. National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum 39. National Center for Lesbian Rights 40. National Council of Jewish Women 41. National Latina Reproductive Health Institute 42. National Women’s Law Center 43. National Domestic Workers Alliance 44. National Economic and Social Rights Initiative 45. New York Domestic Workers Coalition 46. Paula Schaefer & Associates, Inc. 47. Planned Parenthood of New York City 48. Project NIA 49. Rhiza Collective 50. Sadie Nash Leadership Project 51. Sylvia Rivera Law Project 52. Teachers Unite 53. Transforming Justice Coalition 54. Unity Fellowship Church 55. Unspoken Voices 56. Voices UnBroken 57. We Dream in Black – NY 58. Welfare Rights Initiative 59. Women, Action, and the Media 60. Women & Justice Project

Individuals 61. Monifa Bandele, MomsRising 62. Joanne N. Smith, Founder/Executive Director of Girls for Gender Equity 63. Andrea Ritchie, 2014 Soros Justice Fellow 64. Alyssa Aguilera, Co-Executive Director of VOCAL-NY 65. Mizue Aizeki, Deputy Director of Immigrant Defense Project 66. Onleilove Alston, Executive Director of Faith in New York 67. Natalia Aristizabal, Lead Organizer at Make the Road New York 68. Afua Atta-Mensah, Executive Director of Community Voices Heard 69. Iris Baez, Mother of Anthony Baez (killed by NYPD in 1994) 70. Hawa Bah, Mother of Mohamed Bah (killed by NYPD in 2012) 71. Valerie Bell, Mother of Sean Bell (killed by NYPD in 2006) 72. Ilana Berger, Interim Director of Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network 73. Rev. Yolanda Brown, President and CEO at Imani’s Quest Ministries 74. Darlene Bryant, Member Leader of Picture the Homeless 75. Michelle Burger, Member of Citizen Action of New York Racial Justice Committee 76. Melanie Campbell, Black Women’s Roundtable of the National Coalition on Black Civic Engagement 77. , Mother of Eric Garner (killed by NYPD in 2014) 78. Chhaya Chhoum, Executive Director of Mekong 79. Wendy Chun-Hoon, Family Values @ Work 80. Loyda Colon, Co-Director of the Justice Committee 81. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Founder & Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum 82. Cathy Dang, Executive Director of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities 83. Kadiatou Diallo, Mother of Amadou Diallo (killed by NYPD in 1999) 84. Barbara Dobkin, Co-Founder of Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project and Founding Chair of Jewish Women’s Archive 85. Natasha Duncan, Sister of Shantel Davis (killed by NYPD in 2012) 86. Soffiyah Elijah, Executive Director of the Alliance of Families for Justice 87. Lurie Daniel Favors, General Counsel of Center for Law and Social Justice 88. Rev. Katrina Foster, St. John’s Lutheran Church 89. Kassandra Frederique, New York State Director of Drug Policy Alliance 90. Priscilla Gonzalez, Activist 91. Carol Gray, Mother of Kimani Gray (killed by NYPD in 2013) 92. Emily Hong, Rhiza Collective 93. Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund 94. Carol Joyner, Director of Labor Project for Working Families in Partnership with FV@W 95. , Founding Director of Project NIA 96. Nancy K. Kaufman, Chief Executive Officer of National Council of Jewish Women 97. M. Dove Kent, Outgoing Executive Director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice 98. Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah 99. Melody Lee, Co-Founder and Director of Strategy & Campaigns at Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice 100. Maggie Lemere, Rhiza Collective 101. Bertha Lewis, President of The Black Institute 102. Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister of Middle Collegiate Church 103. Lynn Lewis, Executive Director of Picture the Homeless 104. Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of New York Civil Liberties Union

105. Yul-san Liem, Co-Director of the Justice Committee 106. Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives 107. Justine M. Luongo, Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Practice of Legal Aid Society 108. Carinne Luck, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network 109. Coraminita Mahr, Vice President at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East 110. Constance Malcolm, Mother of Ramarley Graham (killed by NYPD in 2012) 111. Tamika D. Mallory, Activist 112. Ruth Messinger, Global Ambassador at American Jewish World Service 113. Nancy Pacheco, Sister-in-law of Jayson Tirado (killed by NYPD in 2007) 114. Carmen Perez, Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice and Co-Founder of Justice League NYC 115. Anthonine Pierre, Lead Community Organizer for Brooklyn Movement Center 116. Judith Plaskow, Jewish feminist theologian 117. Damaris Reyes, Executive Director of GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side) 118. Kyung-Ji Kate Rhee, Deputy Director of The Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions 119. Margarita Rosario, Mother of Anthony Rosario and aunt of Hilton Vega (killed by NYPD in 1995) 120. , Executive Director of Arab American Association of New York 121. Audrey Sasson, Executive Director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice 122. Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York 123. Ariana Schindle, Rhiza Collective 124. Margaret Segall, Board member at Citizen Action of New York 125. Esmeralda Simmons, Founder and Executive Director of Center for Law and Social Justice 126. Robin Steinberg, Founder and Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders 127. Beverly Tillery, Executive Director of The Anti-Violence Project 128. Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Congregation Beth Elohim 129. , Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration and Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter 130. Sue Udry, Executive Director of Bill of Rights Defense Committee/Defending Dissent Foundation 131. Alisa Wellek, Executive Director of Immigrant Defense Project 132. Zoë West, Rhiza Collective 133. L. Joy Williams, President of the Brooklyn NAACP 134. Jessica Wisneski, Legislative and Campaigns Director of Citizen Action of New York 135. Helena Wong, Grassroots Global Justice & World March of Women – US Chapter 136. Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE

Cc: Public Advocate Letitia James Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer Borough President Melinda Katz New York City Council members