January 10, 2022 by Clarissa Ayala
January is National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month and National Stalking Awareness Month
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Since 2010, the President has dedicated the month to raising awareness about the different forms of human trafficking, also known as modern slavery, and educating people about this crime and how to spot it.
Texas is a hot spot for human trafficking in the United States. Its population is spread over a massive area of land. It also has major highway systems. Its longest Interstate Highway, IH-10, is close to 900 miles, goes directly through Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso, and runs all the way to both the East and West Coasts.
This January also marks the eighteenth annual National Stalking Awareness Month (NSAM), an annual call to action to recognize and respond to the serious crime of stalking.
While legal definitions of stalking vary depending on the jurisdiction, a good working definition of stalking is: a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.
Our Crime Victim and Legal Assistance to Survivors of Sexual Assault teams can assist survivors with various civil legal issues. We can help with legal needs like:
- Personal safety at home, work, or school
- Applying for a protective order
- Filing for divorce or custody of your children
- Transferring to a different school
- Keeping medical, mental health, and education records private
- Terminating a lease or fighting an eviction
- Applying for unemployment benefits, food stamps, Medicaid, or Social Security disability
- Applying for crime victim compensation
- Fighting payday loans, hospital bills, or other creditors
- Fighting identity theft
All month, we’ll raise awareness on our website and social media about human trafficking and stalking, and celebrate the efforts of anti-trafficking organizations, communities of faith, state and local law enforcement, survivors, and survivor advocates throughout our service area that promote these important causes.
Everyone can play a part in ending violence.
If you or someone you know needs help with a surprise medical bill, you can apply for free legal help by visiting https://www.lonestarlegal.org.
Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income and underserved populations. Lone Star Legal Aid serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines that reside in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties of Southwest Arkansas. Lone Star Legal Aid focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety and stability, health and well‐being; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those with disabilities, or who are elderly, homeless, or have limited English language skills. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at https://www.lonestarlegal.org.
Media contact: Media@LoneStarLegal.org
