About CWLC
Since its founding in 1989, the California Women’s Law Center (CWLC) has served as a unique advocate in California, working in collaboration with others to protect, secure and advance the comprehensive civil rights of women and girls. CWLC prides itself on forging novel approaches to the problems that confront women and girls, proposing unique strategies to implement those approaches, and recasting issues in new terms. Sadly, there is nothing new about the regular assaults on the rights of women, girls, and their families, particularly those who face multiple barriers to justice : the poor, immigrants, women of color, women of different sexual orientations, women with disabilities. CWLC programs are designed to empower individuals to use the law that governs their rights and to address the legal issues that perpetuate the growing poverty among women and children.
A Commitment to Women & Girls
The California Women’s Law Center works to ensure, through systemic change, that life opportunities for women and girls are free from unjust social, economic, and political constraints.
CWLC is the first law center in California solely dedicated to addressing the comprehensive and unique legal needs of women and girls — which are often distinctly different from the legal issues which confront men. At least 75% of legal services clients in California are women and their children, a staggering client base with diverse and complex needs. Almost 50% of families in poverty are headed by a single parent, and more than 75% of those families are headed by women. CWLC has unparalleled expertise in women’s legal issues and in effective strategies to protect and advance women’s rights.
By focusing on Gender Discrimination, Violence Against Women, Women’s Health and Reproductive Justice, CWLC dedicates its resources to making the constitutional promise of equality a reality, and to protecting the rights of women and girls every day.
Supporting Community Organizations
CWLC works extensively with community organizations to identify persistent and emerging issues of concern to women and girls, to implement strategies to address those concerns and make it possible for individuals to know, understand, and change the laws that govern their rights. As such, many CWLC projects are developed in direct response to community requests and are designed to protect existing rights, eliminate obstacles, and advance law and policy throughout California.
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