California Women's Law Center

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.

CWLC believes:
Oppression can be eliminated only by addressing its institutional and systemic causes.

A model of legal advocacy that emphasizes education, outreach and community organizing, as well as litigation, is the best way to affect change.

Women and girls suffer harm as a result of multiple characteristics, including race, sexual orientation, age, class and disability. The injustices that may be a result of these characteristics are complex and cannot be addressed effectively without recognizing their relationship to one another.

Despite many differences, fundamentally all women have something in common and we strive to identify the goals and strategies that work for the common good of all women and girls.

Lasting change is only possible when women and girls are empowered to be their own best advocates.

Collaboration with others is essential in order to accurately identify the ways in which institutions harm women and girls and to effectively design a remedy for that harm.