Mission
Asesoría Legal Integral a Víctimas Indígenas y sus Organizaciones (ALIVIO) is a one-of-a-kind legal training and clinical initiative that works to increase access to justice for vulnerable and marginalized indigenous crime victims, with an emphasis on victims of gender-based crimes. ALIVIO, the Spanish word for “help” or “relief” helps to train and mentor the next generation of victim counselors in Mexico’s indigenous communities. By strengthening the legal skills and intercultural awareness of legal professionals working in Mexico’s indigenous communities, ALIVIO helps to increase local capacity to provide vital legal aid to meet the urgent justice demands of Mexico’s most vulnerable crime victims.
Background
ALIVIO was conceived and initiated by a pair of attorneys from Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s most marginalized states. Around two thirds of Oaxaca’s population lives below Mexico’s national poverty line and one in four Oaxaqueños live in extreme poverty. Oaxaca is Mexico’s most ethnically diverse state, with around 1.2 million (34.2% of the state’s population) speaking one or more of the state’s 16 registered indigenous languages (including various dialects of Zapotec, Mixtec, Mazateco, and Chinanteco, among others).
These circumstances create special complications for crime victims to receive proper counseling and legal representation, as required by Mexico’s 2013 Ley General de Víctimas. Recognizing the challenges especially facing women from indigenous communities like theirs’, attorneys Alicia Valentín and Aketzali Flores worked with partners from Justice in Mexico, a non-profit organization based at the University of San Diego, to launch the first ALIVIO training in 2021. To help coordinate and sustain ALIVIO, in 2024 Ms. Valentín and Ms. Flores launched Gix Doo, a community-based, non-profit organization that partners with the University of San Diego.
Program Thanks to generous contributions from the Ethel Kennedy Foundation and private donors, ALIVIO has conducted multiple training workshops for dozens of participating attorneys from indigenous communities in Oaxaca and other states. ALIVIO has also provided clinical services in cases involving serious crimes against multiple victims, and multiple government agencies in the state of Oaxaca have requested training and victim assistance from ALIVIO. Accordingly, co-organizers Gix Doo and Justice in Mexico have signed a joint cooperation agreement and are working to expand the ALIVIO program by developing further trainings and resources.