Helping Empower Survivors of Abuse To Create Thriving Lives

Ana, a mother of two from Mexico, answered a job posting to be a childcare provider in the United States. She arrived with the hopes of providing a better life for her and her children. But the family that employed her forced her to work long hours with no pay. Her nightmare only worsened when one of the family members began sexually abusing her. Frightened and isolated, Ana found help and agency at Survivor Justice Center. 

The Los Angeles-based organization provided Ana with legal advocacy and crucial support services to keep her safe. They helped her obtain a visa, a work permit, housing services, and mental health counseling. And, equally paramount for Ana, they helped legally bring her two daughters to the U.S. to reunite with her. Most of this was possible due to the attorney who, free of charge to Ana, was with her in court, meaning she was no longer alone.

“The Justice Center really came to my rescue,” Ana says. “I was able to find legal work and reunite with my two daughters.”

Survivor Justice Center, formerly known as the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, has been providing legal advocacy to low-income and primarily immigrant and Latino populations in Los Angeles since its founding in 1971. In the late 1990s it began providing life-saving direct services for survivors. 

Their client-centered service model is trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and collaborative. Survivor Justice Center’s legal team represents survivors throughout the entirety of their cases, which can sometimes last over 30 years. The organization conducts a full legal and holistic needs assessment when clients first arrive, to determine what kind of representation and services will best help, from legal to basic needs to emotional wellness. The team serving each survivor includes an attorney, a legal advocate, and a social work intern. Their deeply compassionate and comprehensive services range from helping clients get domestic violence restraining orders, to making informed child custody plans, to understanding immigrant rights to resource navigation and more.  

“They often come to us afraid and alone,” says Marissa Marasigan, Survivor Justice Center’s director of development. “And we get to arm them with a full legal team that has the expertise and the connections to transform their lives.”

Survivor Justice Center reports that in 2024 alone they helped 1,092 survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. They secured 100 work permits for immigrant survivors, issued 99 restraining orders to protect survivors of domestic violence, protected 179 children through favorable family law orders, and connected 30 families at risk of homelessness to housing resources.

“We’ve seen an increasing need every year for the past five years and we’ve been able to serve more thanks to our donors and supporters,” says Marasigan.