CLRJ builds a stronger Reproductive Justice movement with the support, collaboration and solidarity of our allies. Partnerships and coalition-building are an essential means to build power, mobilize and advance our policy priorities (both in the immediate and long-term), and grow the Reproductive Justice Movement across movements. In recent years, we have consistently collaborated with nearly 100 organizations on the local, state and national levels. We are proud to highlight some of our ongoing collaborative work below.
Yo Soy
Yo Soy is a national campaign to end the stigma and silence around sex education, birth control, abortion and young parenting within the Latin@ community, spearheaded by: CLRJ, Voto Latino, Advocates for Youth, Color, Hispanic Federation, and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Yo Soy aims to raise visibility, spark conversations, and dispel myths and stereotypes around sexual and reproductive health and rights.
As a Reproductive Justice organization we know that sexual and reproductive health is a key component to the overall health and well-being of Latin@s, and that our communities often face persistent barriers to health, economic security, and obtaining education and health services.Together we are all stronger when we support and respect that personal health decisions are ours to make – and our sexuality, our health and our families are worth talking about.
Learn more about YoSoy by visiting: IamYoSoy.org and pledge to end the stigma and silence around our reproductive health.
Strong Families
CLRJ is a proud founding member of Strong Families!
Our vision is that every family has the rights, recognition and resources it needs to thrive. We are engaging hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals in our work to get there.
Health & Justice for All
CLRJ has established strategic partnerships with various organizations and coalitions across issues to raise the voices of Latinas’ reproductive health and justice needs throughout the implementation phases of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Through these coalitions, CLRJ aims to ensure benefits created by the ACA reach Latinas, particularly low-income, immigrant, and young Latinas. CLRJ is also working to fill in holes in the ACA and ensure those that were left out of health reform, particularly undocumented immigrants, also have access to affordable health services. Specifically, CLRJ collaborates with: California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom (CCRF), California Immigrant Health Network, Having Our Say Coalition (HOS), Health 4 All, Latino Health Alliance (LHA), LA County Coalition on Women in Health Reform, and Raising Women’s Voices (RWV).
Sexual Health Education Roundtable
CLRJ is a co-convener of the Sexual Health Education Roundtable along with the ACLU of Northern California and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. This coalition brings together community-based organizations, researchers, policy advocates and educators with the goal of sharing information and promoting comprehensive sexuality education for youth. By joining the voice of grassroots and local efforts, research and organizations working together to call for improved programs and policies at the state and national levels, the Sexual Health Education Roundtable has become an influential advocate for the quality sex education our youth need and deserve. For information contact: Phyllida Burlingame, pburlingame@aclunc.org.
Project ELAYO
CLRJ and the Health Equity Institute (HEI) at San Francisco State University partnered to address the urgent need to reframe the current discourse around Latino/a youth sexuality and childbearing. With the participation of 372 Latin@-identified youth from across California, CLRJ and HEI conducted a mixed-methods study that included focus groups, in-depth interviews and a statewide online survey. Through ELAYO we studied individual and systemic factors underlying the complexities of adolescent Latin@ sexuality and increased our understanding of how Latin@ youth balance competing cultural and social values regarding sexuality, parenting, and education, and developed recommendations to promote positive sexual health and educational outcomes.
To learn more about ELAYO’s policy significance, read and download the project’s policy briefs:
Policy Brief 1: Creating Opportunities for Latin@ Youth through Evidence-Based Policy
Policy Brief 2: Defining Success on our Terms: Education, Sexual Health and Latin@ Youth
To learn more about ELAYO’s research, read and download the project’s policy briefs:
Community Brief 1: How Latino Youth Benefit from Supportive Adults : Lessons from Youth Providers
Community Brief 1: A World of Difference: Peer-to-Peer for Latino Youth
Spanish / Español
Resumen Comunitario 1: Como los Jóvenes Latinos Se Benefician de Adultos que los Apoyan: Lecciones para los Proveedores de Jóvenes
ELAYO also partnered with the SFSU Cinema Department to create a series of videos. Learn more about the films and projects here.
“Body Republics”– is a transdisciplinary short documentary that depicts the political atmosphere surrounding Latina youth sexuality and reproductive justice. The film follows the trajectory of Monica Flores, a young Latina mother who builds on her experiences as a pregnant and parenting teen to advocate for reproductive health, rights, and justice through policy advocacy. We hope this film will be a tool for Latin@ sexual health advocates to mobilize and organize constituents and educate policy makers in an effort to advance instrumental changes that support Latin@ youth sexual health and educational attainment. Made possible by a collaboration with San Francisco State University’s Health Equity Institute and Cinema Department for Project ELAYO.
Cariño – explores the effect parent-child relationships have on the sexual health and wellbeing of children and youth. The stories shared by families reveal a variety of perceptions and approaches to parent-child communication.