Latin American Women's Aid Refuge

For over 35 years, LAWA has run the only refuges by and for the Latin American community in the UK and in Europe. We provide “by and for” specialist services comprised of refuge accommodation, VAWG Advice centre, counselling and community-based projects. We are a community organisation widely recognised by the women from our community.

We are widely recognised in the community and highly trusted, as attested by the number of women and children who seek our support every year. Over the last year, we provided support to 1116 women and children from Latin America or other black and minoritised backgrounds through 5228 interventions.

LAWA’s works towards making positive changes in our women's lives and support them in their healing journey. To improve our services and reassure our commitment to our service users, we collect regular feedback to measure our impact and tailor our services. Over the last year, we have achieved the following:

• 98.1% of the women said that it made a difference that the service was available in a Latin American / black and minority ethnic led women's organisation.
• 92.6% of the woman stated that the advice provided helped them increase their knowledge about their rights, options and services in the UK.
• 96.3% of women said they feel more confident.
• 83.1% were in a safer accommodation at the end of their case.
• 95.1% finalise their case with a primary source of income other than the perpetrator (are not financially dependent on the perpetrator)

During the last year, we delivered safe accommodation for women; advice and support through our Advice Centre (with specialism in housing, immigration, complex needs and LBTQ+ needs); counselling services; policy and advocacy work on the intersection of housing and domestic violence; and community and engagement projects. 

Links:

• LAWA's website