NIWAP Web Library

This training will provide an overview of legal rights and options in Maryland for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, stalking, human trafficking, and other crimes. The goal of this event will be to enhance the ability of Maryland stakeholders to support immigrant victims by improving service provider’s knowledge, connecting attendees with technical assistance, materials, and tools, and identifying topics where additional training is needed that NIWAP can provide Maryland stakeholders over the next year. Topics this training will cover will include: immigration relief options, safety planning best practices, special issues that arise in family law cases (protection orders, custody, divorce, discovery), access to public benefits including housing and health care, tools for police and prosecutors, and language access legal rights.
In 2016 the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention published a report on a statewide victim services needs assessment in which one of the primary recommendations was that programs serving victims of crime wanted greater access to more opportunities to receive training from national experts. Victim services, legal services, faith-based, and law enforcement agencies were particularly interested in receiving training to improve agencies’ ability to serve immigrant and limited English proficient (LEP) crime victims.

Training Materials

Materials List

If you are a victim advocate, attorney, judge, or other professional working with an immigrant survivor and you would like to receive case specific technical assistance on any of the issues listed below or other issues related to the legal rights of domestic and sexual violence survivors and their children, please call NIWAP for technical assistance. (202) 274-4457 or email us at info@niwap.org. You can also visit NIWAP’s web library https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/

To receive updates, sign up for NIWAP’s outreach list.

You can elect NIWAP’s general outreach list to receive notices of trainings, webinars, new materials, resources and policies. Judges, court staff, law enforcement and prosecutors can sign up for lists exclusively open to staff working at one of these government agencies.

Dynamics & Barriers for Immigrant & Refugee Survivors

Language Access for Survivors

Maryland Demographics

Total foreign born population – 927,936 persons
3% of the state’s population are foreign born
- 3% of the state’s population are foreign born
- 5% naturalized citizens
- ≈ 28% lawful permanent residents
  - Source
- ≈ 19.5% temporary residents and undocumented
0% rise in immigrant population from 2000 to 2017
4% of children in the state under age 18 have 1 or more immigrant parents
- 7% of children with immigrant parents in the state are U.S. natives.
- Source (June 2019)