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“RECOGNIZING JANUARY AS NATIONAL STALKING AWARENESS MONTH” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E79 on Jan. 25, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RECOGNIZING JANUARY AS NATIONAL STALKING AWARENESS MONTH
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HON. LAURA RICHARDSON
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the month of January as National Stalking Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to increasing public understanding of the crime of stalking as well as helping to improve law enforcement's response to stalking in an attempt to hopefully putting an end to this terrifying crime. As a nation, we need to take the necessary action to prevent stalking before it occurs.
Unlike other crimes, stalking is not a single, easily identifiable crime, but a series of acts directed at a single person with the intention to cause fear through threats, intimidation and/or nonconsensual or unwanted communication. Victims of stalking face profound consequences, such as high levels of stress, fear and anxiety.
Stalking is a dangerous reality that affects thousands of Americans every year. In the United States, stalking affects 3.4 million people each year. Further, one in six women and one in 19 men in the United States have been victimized by stalking at some point in their lifetime.
January offers time to focus on a crime that is vastly under-
reported. Due to threats, intimidation, fear of retribution, or lack of an adequate support system, a large number of victims do not report stalking to law enforcement. Stalking is often a precursor to more serious crimes and it can be dangerous if left unreported. If you or someone you know is the victim of stalking, I urge you to come forward and get the protection you need.
As of September 1993, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had passed some type of anti-stalking legislation and in 1996, Congress passed the federal stalking law. This is great progress. Until the passage of anti-stalking laws, victims had few remedies and limited options.
The Obama administration has taken significant strides to identify and prevent stalking. President Obama was the first President to proclaim January as National Stalking Awareness Month and his administration has gone to great lengths to create a strategy to combat violence against women. In addition, stalking is one of the four crimes addressed in the Violence Against Women Act and the Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women is a leader in the fight to reduce stalking. While we are currently taking steps in the right direction, there is room for progress.
I would like to take time to commend Peace over Violence and Safe at Home, for all the work they do to protect victims in my district. Peace over Violence is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing stalking and domestic violence in the Los Angeles area. Peace over Violence offers Emergency, Intervention, Prevention, Education and Advocacy services as well as a 24-hour hotline for victims. Safe at Home, California's address confidentiality program, is administered by the California Secretary of State's office. The program provides a free post office box and mail forwarding services designed to help stalking and other domestic violence victims. Safe at Home offers services that include confidentiality for children, as well as confidential name change, voter registration and the suppression of Department of Motor Vehicle records. Both Peace over Violence and Safe at Home provide victims of stalking with protection, relief and a sense of safety.
Stalking is serious, unpredictable and can often escalate over time. To effectively respond to stalking, we must do more to promote public awareness about stalking and support victims of this crime. Let us work together to advance protection services for stalking victims and expanded educational services. The more people learn to recognize stalking, the warning signs and the dangers, the better chance we have to protect victims and prevent tragedies.
Mr. Speaker, as I rise today to observe National Stalking Awareness Day, I encourage all Americans to come together to prevent stalking before it occurs and I encourage victims to get help by reporting harassment and stalking to the proper authorities.
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