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Who
we are
The
Latin American Women's Rights
Service (LAWRS) was set up in 1983 to address the
lack of support services for Latin American women and
their dependants. The organization was created in recognition
that we, as women, carry a disproportionate burden of
the problems of displacement. We are the only Latin
American organization whose exclusive aim is to help
Latin American women defend and secure their right to
lead a fuller and more autonomous life.
Who
is the Latin American Community?
Our community is made up of refugees and migrant workers.
Despite its size (an estimated 100,000 Latin Americans
are thought to live in London - Open Channels, 2000
-), we remain an unacknowledged and 'invisible' minority.
Since the 1970s, significant numbers of Latin American
refugees have arrived in the UK and many are still coming.
A large number of LAWRS' users come from Colombia, reputed
to be one of the most violent countries in the world.
The community is spread out across Greater London. This
makes it difficult to impress upon providers of the
need for culturally and linguistically appropriate services
in any one local or health authority area.
For
many years we have earned our living in hidden jobs
in the cleaning and hotel & catering trade and service
areas, notorious for its segregation from mainstream
British society, offering low wages, no job security
and anti-social working hours. Many Latin Americans
in London cannot speak English and do not know their
way around the British system. Lack of English is a
barrier to access language courses, welfare, social
and health provision and exacerbates isolation and exclusion.
Why
women?
Latin American women refugees are already survivors
of atrocities, persecution, torture, rape, domestic
and state violence. Adjusting to life in the UK is a
traumatic process in which lack of English and networks
of support, severe inequalities of access to decent
jobs and training, housing, education, health and social
services, restrictive immigration laws, all combine
to create situations in which dependency upon partners,
family and employers and abuse against women is often
commonplace.
LAWRS
was created in recognition that we as women carry a
disproportionate share of the problems of displacement,
assisting Latin American women to uphold and secure
their rights to more autonomous and fulfilled lives.
Our
services
LAWRS services aim to support and enable women to overcome
inequalities. We strive to offer a seamless one-stop
holistic service in which our users are supported to
address their resettlement, welfare and legal advice
needs, but also to widen opportunities to enable them
to break away from poverty and exclusion and to lead
independent and autonomous lives. Our Advice Work has
obtained the Quality Mark at level 2 and we were also awarded the "Investors in People Award" and "Investing in Volunteers".
Our services include:
- An
outreach advice service for frail and disabled elderly
women
- A
dedicated domestic violence support service
- Housing
advice surgeries
- A
support service for women wishing to start their own
business
- A
counselling service to help women overcome traumatic
situations
Our
childcare service looks after service users' children
whilst they are attended at LAWRS. Please contact us to reserve a place 48 hours before your appointment.
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