The Young Women’s Advisory Board (YWAB) at LAWRS is launching its latest work: ‘Voices of Young Latinas: Peer Research into Sexual Harassment at London Universities.’

Who We Are

The YWAB is a group of young Latin American women aged 18-25 dedicated to addressing all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). We approach this work from our unique lived experiences and intersecting identities as migrants, Latin Americans, and young women. By gathering in a safe, collaborative space, we focus on building leadership and advocacy skills, engaging in policy discussions, and increasing our abilities to influence decision-making spaces to benefit young women in our community.

Our Programme and the design of a Peer Research Report

Our YWAB programme ran from April 2024 to March 2025, with training sessions focusing on peer research, leadership and advocacy, VAWG, sexual harassment, and artivism. These sessions have been guided by LAWRS, Partnership for Young London, and the artist Ximena Ruiz del Río.

Through discussing shared experiences, we discovered a gap in research concerning how Latin American women’s intersecting identities affect their experiences with sexual harassment in higher education. The impact of this harassment deeply affects us as we navigate university spaces. To amplify our advocacy efforts, we decided to create a peer research report that gives voice to these experiences.

We held a focus group to design our research question. All of the participants within our group were either starting, in the process of, or had finished their university degree. We discovered that most of us had faced some form of sexual harassment tied to our identities as Latin American women. These abuses were often unseen, overlooked,or normalised yet they had a profound personal impact in our lives. Our research explored how stereotypes, accents, migration, racism, xenophobia, and sexism intersect and shape these experiences.

We carried out 13 semi-structured interviews and designed and distributed a questionnaire, receiving 32 survey responses. Using thematic analysis, we collaboratively wrote this peer research report, which includes key findings and policy recommendations.

Key Findings

Our research revealed five key findings:

  • Sexual harassment has a significant negative impact on Latin American women across multiple areas of life.
  • University procedures for reporting sexual harassment are broken, making them an inaccessible and time-consuming process which deters reporting.
  • Multiple stigmatisation of being a migrant, Latin American, and a woman dissuades women from reporting as it positions them as more vulnerable.
  • Stereotypes surrounding Latin American women make them more vulnerable to sexual harassment as they’re perceived as more ‘sexually available’.
  • The frequency of sexual harassment paired with the stereotyping of Latin Americans in the U.K. results in these behaviours and acts being perceived as the ‘norm’.

These findings provide valuable insights into the realities faced by young Latin American women and shed light on the critical issues affecting their lives.

For a more detailed understanding of our research, including a full description of the key findings and policy recommendations, please read our full report here.

Thank you for supporting the voices of young Latinas.

Our Artivism: A Creative Response to Tackle VAWG

As part of our peer research process, we also created a social media campaign to raise awareness of sexual harassment and advocate for young migrant women’s rights. Our campaign reflects our commitment to tackling all forms of VAWG in British society.

Check out the entire campaign, images, and messages on our Instagram page: Sin Fronteras – LAWRS Instagram.

Get Involved

If you have any questions or want to participate in our free activities for young Latin American women, we would love to hear from you! Sign up through our Google form, or contact us via WhatsApp at 07802 645001 or by email at sinfronteras@lawrs.org.uk.

Our activities are open to Latin American girls and young women between 14 and 25 years old living in the UK, including first and second-generation women with Latin American ethnicity and European/UK nationality.