Article of Interest

Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault
By:  Betty Balli Torres, Executive Director, Texas Access to Justice Foundation

As students across the nation hustle back to school, a terrible reality faces many of our campuses. One in five women is sexually assaulted in college.  Often, by someone they know.  Often, they do not report it.  One of the many long-lasting effects of sexual assault on survivors can be legal issues that affect their ability to achieve safety, security, and stability.

The Texas Access to Justice Foundation recently created the Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault (LASSA) network and a new statewide toll-free number [1-844-303-7233 (SAFE)] to call for representation and referral to nine legal aid organizations that are partnering with domestic violence and rape crisis centers across Texas.  The confidential hotline is available seven days a week, and callers may remain anonymous.  Survivors’ legal problems can include privacy violations, physical safety threats, school accommodations, employment sanctions, financial problems, and housing problems.

Imagine you’re a student who was sexually assaulted in your apartment complex.  After dealing with the initial trauma and devastation of the assault, you want to take steps to leave the complex where the nightmare happened. You may need legal advice about how to get out of your lease. Then, your roommates sue you for your share of the rent money. A lawyer can help you with the lawsuit and enable you to find a home where you feel safe again.

The LASSA network serves every Texas county, providing survivors of sexual assault with a wide range of free legal services from general advice to holistic direct representation in civil legal matters stemming from the sexual assault. Survivors require legal services to safeguard their privacy and physical well-being, avoid loss of credits and wages by seeking reasonable accommodations in school and employment, and avoid financial losses and homelessness.  Each organizational member of the network has identified a niche for services. Some focus on Title IX outreach, education, referrals, and representation and some tackle the immigration law consequences of survivors of human trafficking.  Others will focus on basic needs like housing, employment, and education issues that arise from the aftermath of trauma. 

“As survivors of sexual assault begin to rebuild their lives, legal issues may arise that affect their safety and well-being,” Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, the Court’s liaison for access to justice issues, said. “Help is now a confidential phone call away for Texans who qualify for legal aid.”

This is the first collaborative effort to ensure critical civil legal services for survivors are available from anywhere in Texas.  Representation by legal aid programs, which have done an admirable job advocating for survivors in the domestic violence arena, has not been widely available for Texas sexual assault survivors. Only a handful of legal aid offices have had sufficient resources to screen or prioritize services to survivors of non-intimate partner sexual assault, who comprise the majority of sexual assault survivors.

The initiative was made possible through $10 million in funding from the 84th Session of the Texas Legislature for the 2015-2017 biennium. The Texas Access to Justice Foundation distributes the funds to grantees across the state.

For more information, please call 1-844-303-7233 (SAFE) or visit the website.