Across the country in Seattle, a pilot program is attempting to bridge the trust gap between police and what is arguably the city's most vulnerable minority population—its refugee community. The Refugee Women's Institute has just wrapped up the first phase of a program that pairs female police officers with refugee women, in order to learn about each other.
Seattle's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs started the pilot after the city received feedback about the barriers refugees face that can prevent them from seeking law enforcement help. Refugee communities have different needs from the general immigrant population, says Sahar Fathi, who developed the program. Because their numbers often don't reach the critical mass required to tailor resources to their needs, refugees can also often be overlooked.
Fathi's pilot chose to focus on women in the community because they are more vulnerable to domestic violence and sexual assault, and they're more likely to take care of young children. They are also, in many ways, the gatekeepers of their communities.
[For more of this story, written by Tanvi Misra, go to http://www.citylab.com/cityfix...-hardly-knew/383149/]
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