Asian Americans in New York can now report discrimination directly through a hotline established by its state attorney general on Monday.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has launched the hotline for New Yorkers as hate crimes toward people of Asian descent continue to rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, NBC reports.

In a statement, James’ office explained that the hotline will help provide resources to victims and aid in civil investigations if necessary. If a criminal prosecution is sought, the case will be handled by local law enforcement.

No one should live in fear for their life because of who they are, what they look like or where they come from. I encourage all victims of ANY discriminatory actions to contact my office: ☎️(800) 771-7755 ✉️civil.rights@ag.ny.gov — NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) March 23, 2020

“No one should live in fear for their life because of who they are, what they look like, or where they come from,” James was quoted as saying.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by New York State AG (@newyorkstateag) on Mar 23, 2020 at 11:35am PDT

“With rising reports of harassment & assaults, as well as rhetoric against Asian Americans amidst #coronavirus, I’m launching a hotline for New Yorkers to report hate crimes & bias-based incidents,” James wrote in an Instagram post. “This pandemic does not give anyone an excuse to be racist, xenophobic, or biased.”

“No one should live in fear for their life because of who they are, what they look like or where they come from. I encourage all victims of ANY discriminatory actions to contact my office: (800) 771-7755 and email at civil.rights@ag.ny.gov.”

James’ initiative is a welcome addition in the fight against the growing number of hate crimes linked to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Last week, Asian American groups launched websites to document and condemn incidents of racism and attacks against people of Asian descent in the U.S.

Cynthia Choi, the Co-Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, shared that the collected data will help them assess the extent and magnitude of the racist incidents and let them develop strategies to prevent these attacks.

“We want community members to know they are not alone; they can speak out and help stop the spread of bigotry,” she noted.

Feature Image via @newyorkstateag