Brief history of the organization Casa Amiga

Our background goes back to 1992, when the women’s NGO Ocho de Marzo was founded in Ciudad Juárez. In 1993 Ocho de Marzo, the Gender Studies Department at Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez and the Independent Committee of Human Rights in Chihuahua started the registration of newspaper articles about crimes committed towards women at our border. Subsequently, eleven groups united themselves to form the Coordination of NGOs whose mission was to defend the security and integrity of women.

The killing and disappearances of women in our border started to increase and,  it was not institutions which could provide support and assistance to battered women. In November 1998, after seeing the impunity of this type of violence in our city, we decided to rent a house and to our surprise we saw that battered women started to arrive. Our center was officially inaugurated on February 9, 1999 with the support of the Border Fund, Laurie Paternoster and Mr. Turot (Whataburger).

At present, under the direction of Ms. Irma Guadalupe Casas Franco, we are an interdisciplinary team of professional competencies: one coordinator of the psychological team, four psychologists, one coordinator of social work and one assistance, one coordinator of prevention and 2 assistance, one financial and develop coordinator,  one coordinator for voluntary team, 1 coordinator of legal department and one lawyers, one administrator, one pedagogue, team of maintenance, one take care about child,  one receptionist, and a team of volunteers.

Objectives of the organization

• Create spaces to raise consciousness about violence and its effects.
• Design and implement preventative strategies against violence and its effects with a focus on gender.
• Provide tools of empowerment for the physical and emotional reconstitution of people.
• Establish strategic relationships and alliances with government authorities and social and private groups.
• Create economic conditions to achieve our mission.