Emigrated to the United States for love, Portuguese João Corga works as a public defender for other Portuguese-speaking emigrants who survive cases that end in lovelessness and domestic violence.

João Corga has always been interested in helping others. A former bailiff of the Public Ministry in Portugal, he emigrated four years ago to the United States of America and two and a half years ago he became a ‘lawyer’, advocate and assistant for domestic violence wounds at the Portuguese-American social services organization for all persons from Portuguese-speaking countries, a Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS).

“I am always interested, as I am a recent immigrant, in helping our communities that are now arriving, whether from Brazil, Cape Verde and even Portugal,” he told Lusa agency in Boston.

João Corga spoke to Lusa on Domestic Violence Prevention Month, symbolized by the color purple, a nationwide initiative in the United States.

“Always this idea of ​​social conscience”, he added, with a desire to help make more evident “very difficult times of being an immigrant” during the covid-19 pandemic, which closed borders and brought down many sources of income.

Before leaving the Portuguese Public Ministry, where he worked, João Corga had five years of experience in dealing with the victim of sexual abuse and violence, focused on prosecuting the aggressors.

Now at MAPS, Corga works more closely as a social worker and helps wounded people make contact with the police and courts.

“Although the American court system is a little different,” courts operate similarly around the world, considered.

Privacy and confidentiality are a working maxim for Portuguese, bringing victims of domestic violence together with police networks and courts in the Massachusetts area, where an organization he works for, MAPS, has six offices.

Born in Porto, João Corga emigrated to the United States to marry the “first great love” of his life, a Portuguese-American he met in Portugal.

“It’s a love story,” says João Corga. “Jessica was the first great love of my life and the last also”, smiles the Porto native.

The two had a long-distance relationship for several years, with each other visiting Portugal and the USA, until their wedding in 2017, when João decided to move to the other side of the Atlantic.

“I speak in Portuguese, she answers in English, which is really funny,” she says.

The visa required to reside in the United States as the spouse of a US citizen took about a year to arrive and for this reason, João Corga could not have a job, which “was good” at this stage of his life.

“I was a court officer for 20 years, I worked a lot, with very strong work pressure. So it was good for me to rest for a year,” he explained.

To mark the month of awareness about domestic violence, João Corga combines business with pleasure and gives tennis lessons to MAPS clients, which is like a social services and protection agency for anyone in need, in a wide network of other agencies and US health, law, legal, or shelter institutions.

The sporting activity that João Corga promotes in the city of Lowell is intended to “work a little bit with ‘self-care’, give ways to take care of yourself, the importance of physical exercise and at the same time divert your head a little to things more positive’, politician the ‘advocate’.

A 51-year-old organization, a MAPS does important work in the Portuguese-speaking communities of the United States, with programs for the prevention, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, mental health, support for US immigration, support for the elderly, or for Monitoring and protecting survivors of domestic violence or sexual abuse.