 |
|
Amanda Nguyen, poised to be the primary lady of Vietnamese descent to enterprise into house. Picture from Nguyen’s Instagram |
Area for Humanity introduced final month that Nguyen, 33, will probably be traveling past the earth’s atmosphere as a part of its Citizen Astronaut Program, which is devoted to “empowering every citizen astronaut to handle world challenges with a broader perspective.”
The Vietnamese-American lady is about to embark on her house journey aboard a New Shepard rocket by Blue Origin, an American aerospace producer, protection contractor, and house launch supplier.
The launch date for the New Shepard mission has but to be introduced.
Earlier than information of her deliberate journey into house, Nguyen was famend for her contributions to the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act and her advocacy for Asian-American rights.
Based on a 2016 report by The Guardian, Nguyen’s path in direction of changing into an astronaut, a dream she had lengthy cherished, was disrupted following a sexual assault in opposition to her in 2013.
The report highlighted that after she submitted proof by way of a rape equipment in Massachusetts, state legal guidelines granted Nguyen 15 years to resolve on pursuing authorized motion. Nonetheless, a pamphlet she obtained on the hospital indicated that, with out an “extension request” each six months, state legislation permitted the destruction of her rape equipment.
Required to resume this request biannually, Nguyen said the system compelled her to “dwell her life by the date of the rape.”
This case led Nguyen to query sexual assault survivors’ authorized protections in different states. She compiled a listing of over 20 authorized rights out there to this group throughout completely different states and found a large variance in safety ranges. She famous the absence of any state legislation that assured the retention of a rape equipment till the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Prompted by this, Nguyen quickly put aside her aspirations for house journey.
“On the crossroads of justice or my astronaut dream, I selected justice,” Nguyen declared in a video posted on the Fb web page of the U.S. Consulate Common in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis on March 27 as she recounted her journey.
She mobilized her buddies and contacts into a web-based community of volunteers, which later turned often called Rise, a non-profit group devoted to preserving and furthering citizen’s civil rights. Collectively, they explored varied authorized cures and efficiently garnered help for laws.
Nguyen’s efforts subsequently impressed Senate Democrats to introduce a invoice aimed toward consolidating and standardizing rights for sexual assault survivors.
Merely two months after the institution and mobilizations of Nguyen’s group, legislators in Massachusetts had proposed a invoice introducing quite a few new rights for survivors of sexual assault. This invoice aimed to ascertain a monitoring system for rape kits and stop the untimely destruction of those kits by legislation enforcement with out correct processing, testing, or notifying the sufferer.
Shortly thereafter, Nguyen’s group crafted the same legislative proposal for lawmakers in California who confirmed curiosity and engaged with legislators in New York. The proposal was then launched in Congress and the Home of Representatives.
The invoice was unanimously handed by each the Senate and the Home of Representatives within the U.S. in Sep. 2016, in response to Time journal. Former U.S. President Barack Obama signed it into legislation in October of the identical 12 months. Many states have since adopted related laws, in response to CNBC.
It’s estimated to have an effect on practically 25 million folks within the U.S. Many U.S. states have adopted the act or used it as a foundation to develop suitable state legal guidelines.
“For 10 years, I traded my telescope for a pen to draft legal guidelines defending survivors,” she declared.
Nguyen can be recognized for being a powerful voice for the Asian-American and Pacific Islander group, opposing the hatred directed at this group.
In Feb. 2016, she uploaded a video on Instagram urging nationwide media to extra successfully report on the surge of anti-Asian violence. The video shortly gained widespread consideration, resulting in such a major influence that U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the violence throughout his first prime-time tackle as president a month later, as reported by The Harvard Gazette.
Together with her achievements, Nguyen was then nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and named Lady of the Yr by Time journal in 2022.
After graduating from Harvard, she took on the function of Deputy White Home Liaison for the U.S. Division of State and resumed her pursuit of house journey, in response to Forbes.
“I’m Vietnamese. I’m flying to house in order that younger Vietnamese ladies can see themselves among the many stars,” she spoke within the video posted on the Fb web page of the U.S. Consulate Common in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis.
“I is perhaps the primary, however I can’t be the final.”