About the National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence
The National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence is a coalition of nationally recognized Latina and Latino advocates, community activists, practitioners, and researchers united by a shared mission: to end domestic violence in Latino communities and beyond. Rooted in cultural understanding and social justice, the organization works to transform systems, support survivors, and prevent violence through education, advocacy, and community-based solutions.
Our Mission and Vision
The Alliance seeks to eliminate domestic violence by centering the voices, strengths, and lived experiences of Latino communities. Its mission is to promote safety, dignity, and healing for all survivors, while challenging the social, cultural, and institutional conditions that allow violence to persist.
Its vision is a world where every individual can live free from fear and coercion, where families and communities can thrive in healthy relationships, and where language, culture, or immigration status never become barriers to support and protection.
Who We Are: A Collective of Leaders and Change-Makers
The Alliance is composed of Latina and Latino leaders with decades of experience working in the fields of domestic violence, gender equity, public health, social work, law, and community organizing. Members include frontline advocates, shelter and program staff, policy experts, educators, and scholars who understand both the systemic nature of violence and the culturally specific realities faced by Latino survivors.
Drawing on deep community roots and professional expertise, the Alliance bridges the gap between research and practice, amplifying community wisdom while advancing evidence-informed strategies that make a tangible difference in survivors’ lives.
Culturally Grounded, Community-Centered Approach
The Alliance recognizes that domestic violence does not occur in isolation, but is shaped by intersecting factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, language, immigration, economic inequality, and historical trauma. For Latino communities, responses to violence must honor cultural values, family structures, and community networks while upholding the safety and autonomy of survivors.
Its work emphasizes:
- Cultural humility: Listening to and learning from survivors, families, and communities.
- Community accountability: Promoting solutions that involve community members, leaders, and institutions.
- Strength-based perspectives: Recognizing resilience, resourcefulness, and strong cultural traditions as foundations for healing.
- Intersectional advocacy: Addressing how multiple identities and systems of oppression shape survivors’ experiences.
Language Access and Multilingual Support
Because language access is essential to safety and justice, the Alliance is committed to ensuring that survivors and communities can receive information and support in the languages they use every day. Through a broad and diverse network, services and resources can be made available in Spanish and in up to 139 additional languages, helping to remove one of the most persistent barriers to seeking help.
This multilingual capacity allows the Alliance and its partners to:
- Communicate clearly with survivors who may not speak English or who feel safer using their home language.
- Develop educational materials that resonate with diverse cultural and linguistic communities.
- Support training and technical assistance efforts across multilingual service environments.
- Promote equity by ensuring language is never a reason for exclusion from support or safety planning.
Key Areas of Work
The Alliance advances its mission through multiple, interconnected areas of work designed to create change at individual, community, and systemic levels.
1. Policy Advocacy and Systems Change
The Alliance works to shape policies that protect survivors, hold perpetrators accountable, and strengthen community-based responses to domestic violence. This includes engaging with policymakers, agencies, and allied organizations to ensure that laws and programs reflect the specific needs and realities of Latino communities.
2. Research and Knowledge Building
Researchers within the Alliance contribute to a growing body of knowledge on domestic violence in Latino communities, exploring topics such as migration, language access, cultural beliefs, and systemic barriers. This research helps inform more responsive, data-driven programs and policies while challenging harmful stereotypes or misconceptions.
3. Training, Education, and Technical Assistance
The Alliance provides training and technical assistance to service providers, advocates, and community leaders across the country. These efforts focus on culturally grounded best practices, trauma-informed care, and the importance of language access in supporting survivors. Educational initiatives also reach community members, raising awareness about healthy relationships, warning signs of abuse, and available resources.
4. Community Engagement and Leadership Development
Community engagement is central to the Alliance's work. By cultivating leadership among survivors, youth, elders, and grassroots organizers, the Alliance helps to build local capacity to prevent and respond to domestic violence. Storytelling, community dialogues, and culturally resonant campaigns empower individuals to challenge norms that perpetuate violence and to build supportive networks.
Centering Survivors and Their Stories
Survivors' experiences guide the Alliance's priorities, strategies, and advocacy. By centering survivor voices, the organization helps ensure that programs and policies reflect real needs rather than assumptions. Whether through listening sessions, advisory roles, or participatory research, survivors' insights shape the direction of the work and strengthen the movement to eliminate domestic violence.
The Alliance recognizes that healing is not one-size-fits-all. It supports approaches that respect survivors’ cultural identities, spiritual practices, family ties, and personal choices, acknowledging that safety and healing may look different for every person.
Collaboration With National and Local Partners
Domestic violence is a complex issue that demands collaborative responses. The Alliance works closely with local organizations, national coalitions, service providers, researchers, and advocates across sectors. Through these partnerships, the Alliance helps integrate culturally informed practices into mainstream responses, broadening access to resources and strengthening the overall safety net for survivors.
By serving as a bridge between Latino communities and broader anti-violence movements, the Alliance helps ensure that strategies for prevention and intervention are inclusive, equitable, and responsive to diverse cultural realities.
Commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice
Eliminating domestic violence requires addressing the larger social and structural conditions that enable it. The Alliance is committed to advancing racial, gender, economic, and linguistic justice as part of its core work. This includes challenging discrimination, promoting inclusive practices, and supporting policies that expand access to housing, healthcare, employment, and education for survivors and their families.
By situating domestic violence within a broader social justice framework, the Alliance affirms that safety, dignity, and respect are fundamental human rights that should be accessible to all, regardless of background or circumstance.
Looking Ahead: Building a Future Free From Violence
The National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence continues to evolve in response to new challenges and opportunities. As communities change and the national conversation around violence and equity deepens, the Alliance remains dedicated to innovation, collaboration, and culturally rooted leadership.
With its network of Latina and Latino advocates, community activists, practitioners, and researchers, and its capacity to reach survivors and communities in 139 additional languages, the Alliance stands at the forefront of a movement that envisions safe, thriving, and just communities for current and future generations.