The Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS) is a human rights, feminist organisation run for Latin American women, and 100% run by Latin American women.
 
The mission is to reach out and provide tools to empower Latin American women in the UK to pursue personal and social change. They help women to assert their rights to be free from all forms of discrimination and violence, lead empowered and fulfilled lives, enjoy their human rights to the full and become central actors in achieving social change.

LAWRS has supported Latin American women in the UK to achieve personal change and live their lives free from abuse since 1983. Through specialist advice, information and tools, they enable women to adapt and grow.

LAWRS was founded by a group of Latin American women who saw a significant gap in the services that existed for the women migrating to the UK from Latin America and demand for those services. Their needs were not met by mainstream organisations and the founders recognised that as women as well as migrants, their experiences were specific and different.

An advice, information and advocacy service was established to inform women of their rights and enable them to access services in a culturally, linguistically and gender specific setting.

Over time, LAWRS has expanded its services to provide a holistic, wide-ranged approach in how they assist women to develop.

The founding members’ vision continues to guide us at the core: all of the policy, advocacy and campaigning work around women and migrants’ rights is done within a human rights based approach and following the principles of a feminist organisation.