East L.A.’s Latina Service Groups Deserve Recognition

The article “Latina Victims of Abuse Have a Newfound Voice” (Nov. 20) dismisses the contributions made by Latina victim advocates in East Los Angeles. The article inaccurately characterizes the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women Spanish-language services program as groundbreaking.

Many individuals, primarily Latinas, and organizations in East Los Angeles have provided countless hours of bilingual assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault for more than 20 years.

In 1974, the East Los Angeles Rape Hotline was the first and only bilingual and bicultural service in the nation. Bilingual volunteers at the East Los Angeles Women’s Center have answered calls on the hotline for more than 25 years. This was especially important for Latina victims, who too frequently were not being serviced by mainstream female organizations. These men and women have extended invaluable counsel and advice to women, particularly Latinas, immersed in physical and emotional abuse without any of the fanfare you gave to LACAAW.

Unfortunately, it is only now that groups such as LACAAW are recognizing that much more needs to be done to help non-English-speaking victims.

While the efforts of LACAAW should be commended, the decades of hard work by Latina organizations in East Los Angeles should not be ignored. In the future, a more complete description of resources will increase the possibility that victims will receive the assistance they desperately need.

49th DISTRICT

ASSEMBLYWOMAN GLORIA ROMERO