HWAT adheres to guiding principles and values when working with individuals and communities.

These guiding principles are:

*Sexism leads to violence against women;
*Collective action focused on systemic changes is required to raise the status of women and must be led by women;
*Strong Hmong women contribute to the growth and health of families and community, the strengthening of one does not disempower the other;
*We recognize that a byproduct of change is fear and conflict. We are here because we are committed to building the capacity of and improving the lives of Hmong families by increasing the status and value of Hmong women; and
*Making social changes at the systems level requires organizing and mobilizing of individuals to take action.