The news regarding Mona Wang has been extremely difficult to witness. Our thoughts are with her and we stand by her. We are collectively feeling anger, disgust, sadness and fear. It has taken us a while to make this petition, as this is something that needs time to process, careful thinking and levelheadedness.
 
With events going on all over the nation and continent, police violence and brutality is highlighted. Others have been similarly victimized:

• Regis Korchinski-Pauet, 29, black-indigenous woman, died after police were called to do a wellness check
• Chantel Moore, 26, indigenous woman, shot dead during a wellness check
• Ejaz Ahmed Choudry, 62, Pakistani man with schizophrenia, shot dead in his apartment during a wellness check by police

This all happened within the span of 2 weeks to BIPOC individuals living with mental health challenges; this is not a one-off, and this calls for reform in mental health crisis response. The overrepresentation of BIPOC in these cases is glaring.
 
The stigma of self-harm is lethal. Listening to and learning from lived experience is how we end this violence. We are the experts in our care and we know there are more appropriate avenues of getting people the help they deserve. We want to work together to build a trauma-informed, compassionate approach to those who are struggling with their mental health.
 
We support CAMH's statement calling for a new direction for crisis care: "Mental health is health. That means that people experiencing a mental health crisis need healthcare... Police are not trained in crisis care and should not be expected to lead this important work."

Mona's case, in addition to those of Regis, Chantel and Mr. Choudry, demonstrate the necessity for police to be removed from the front-lines of mental health emergencies, and for trauma-informed care to be widespread. It is more helpful to have trained crisis workers respond to emergencies, who are much better equipped to handle these situations.

Individuals with lived experience of mental health are more likely to be victims of violence than to be violent themselves. Together we can build a safety net for individuals struggling with self-harm and end the victimisation of people like Mona.

We often hear that it takes a village to raise a child, and we believe that it takes a community to build mental health.

If you need support right now, please reach out:

• 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433)
• Vancouver Access and Assessment Centre (604-675-3700)
• HealthLinkBC 8-1-1
• BC-wide Mental Health Support (310-6789)
• KidsHelpPhone - up to age 29 nationwide (1-800-668-6868)
• Foundry Virtual Counselling/Peer Support 1-833-FØUNDRY (1-833-308-6379)
• VictimLinkBC (1-800-563-0808)
• LegalAidBC (1-866-577-2525)
• Kaleidoscope or SHARE via email or FB messenger

Support petitions/fundraisers similar to this:

• JUSTICE FOR MONA WANG
• Demand the RCMP Fire Corporal Lacy Browning and Reform Mental Health Check Protocol
• Demand UBC Take Action Against Police Violence
• Vancouver Black Therapy & Advocacy Fund