Abrianna Morales

Abrianna Morales (she/her), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a sexual assault survivor, victim advocate, and activist. After being sexually assaulted at the age of fifteen and facing the social, emotional, and legal turmoil of sexual victimization, she decided to create Sexual Assault Youth Support Network (SAYSN) in 2017 to support, empower, and connect young survivors like herself.

Since 2017, Abrianna’s dedication to victim advocacy has grown into a passion for uniting research, practice, and policy in service of sexual violence survivors, ultimately seeking to elevate their voices in communities, legislatures, and the academic discourse. Beyond her work with SAYSN, she has spent many years advocating for and testifying in support of legislation to extend the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse in the State of New Mexico. As a McNair Scholar and undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico, she has also worked to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on victims’ experiences of procedural justice in the criminal-legal system, as well as children’s abilities to comprehend and identify grooming behaviors. In 2022, she was selected as a recipient of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for her dedication to public service. In 2023, she graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and Criminology.

As NOVA’s Victim Advocacy Corps Program Manager, Abrianna works with youth advocates, students, researchers, and institutions of higher education to empower youth from marginalized communities to become involved with victim advocacy.

In her free time, Abrianna enjoys running, creative writing, and watching movies.