Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 8. Source pages: 11.
Act 3 Allows for Donations to Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response Org
The governor signed HB 12 into law creating Act 3, which allows for an individual income tax checkoff for donations to the Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR) organization.
An individual can donate all or a portion of his state income tax refund to the Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR) organization in lieu of that amount being paid as a refund. Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response® is a nonprofit organization committed to serving youth and adult survivors of sexual trauma and building institutional capacity to prevent and respond responsibly to sexual violence in the community, according to the website.
Officials state: "Our organization’s roots are in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where we began as the Stop Rape Crisis Center, a division of the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office, in 1975. In 1979, the center was recognized as “An Exemplary Project” by the U.S. Department of Justice and what began as a grassroots initiative comprised of several volunteers, advocates and allies committed to establishing support services for rape survivors quickly became nationally recognized."
STAR® currently serves a wide population of survivors, including children who have been sexually abused, adults who were sexually abused as children, and those who have faced sexual harassment, sexual battery and assault, rape and attempted rape.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.