Directory of Organizations

The Victim Rights Law Center is Leading a New Response to Sexual Violence. Founded as the first law center in the nation dedicated solely to serving the legal needs of sexual assault victims, the Victim Rights Law Center is the leader in representing sexual assault victims’ legal rights within the civil context. We not only provide legal representation to victims of rape and sexual assault to help rebuild their lives, but also promote a national movement committed to seeking justice for every rape and sexual assault victim. Through an innovative model of community collaboration, we have created a network of allies (medical providers, counselors, lawyers) dedicated to improving legal services for rape victims. They have offices in MA and OR.

The Victim Rights Law Center engages in three primary activities:

• Free Legal Services
• Legal Training
• Technical Assistance

The Victim Rights Law Center is the first law center in the nation dedicated solely to advocating for the civil legal needs of sexual assault survivors.  The VRLC provides direct legal representation to victims of rape and sexual assault in Oregon. Survivors are self-identified meaning criminal charges are not required to be a VRLC client. There is no age, income, citizenship, or immigration status restriction and clients may include family members in immigration cases. Legal services must be related to the sexual assault.

VRLC attorneys provide consultation and legal representation in the areas of victim advocacy*, safety and privacy*, benefits and financial stability*, housing*, employment*, education, immigration, and identity document changes.  

*Tri county area only (Multnomah, Clackamas & Washington; survivor must live, work, go to school, or have been assaulted in relevant geographic location).

The Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR) was founded in 1979 as a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the legal rights of crime victims in the civil, criminal, and juvenile justice systems. VALOR has provided leadership on research and reform in the areas of restitution, child abuse, juvenile justice, sentencing, and parole, and has served, since 1995, as the lead grantee for the OVC-funded and sponsored project, the National Victim Assistance Academy.

Our mission is to lead Latina victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence to safety, empower them to live free of violence and reach and sustain their full potential. We pursue our mission by raising community awareness, engaging in activism and providing culturally competent services.

Services include:

• immigration
• housing for survivors
• economic empowerment
• language access
• training and workshops

DVSAC began in 1987 on St. Croix, as a result of the first Domestic Violence Conference held in the Territory. Since that time, we have expanded efforts on all three islands. 

Voces Latinas aims to reduce the rate of HIV transmission and violence among immigrant Latino/as by empowering, educating, and providing leadership and advocacy training to enable them to make healthier decisions for themselves and their families. Through collaborative relationships, we connect immigrant Latinas with culturally and linguistically sensitive services to address their immediate needs, which allows them to identify with their risk for HIV/AIDS.

The Voices and Faces Project is an award-winning non-profit storytelling initiative created to bring the names, faces, and testimonies of survivors of gender-based violence to the attention of the public. Through our educational and advocacy trainings, our survivor story archives (housed at The Voices and Faces Project and World Without Exploitation), and our signature program, The Stories We Tell – an immersive, two-day testimonial writing workshop for survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and trafficking – we seek to change minds, hearts, and public policies through the power of personal testimony.

We believe that stories aren’t just found. They are cultivated. Those who choose to share them need to be encouraged, listened to, developed, and supported if their voices are to have an enduring effect on public attitudes and policies. The well-told story creates the space for the world to better understand the damage gender-based violence does to victims, families and communities. It breaks through partisan barriers in a way that statistics alone cannot. But our stories, strategically and mindfully told, do something more: They call the world not just to compassion, but social action. And action is what The Voices and Faces Project is all about.

We endeavor to empower each member of the family and strive to provide a range of services to ensure successful attainment of our mission. All services are provided to anyone/everyone free of charge and in complete confidence irrespective of their ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender or creed.