Secretary of State releases Safe at Home address protection campaign

JACKSON, Tenn. — January 11 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and a statewide campaign is underway to help keep you safe at home.

The Tennessee Secretary of State released the campaign called “Protect Your Address. Protect Yourself.”

“The Secretary of State’s office launched the ‘Protect your address. Protect yourself.’ awareness campaign specifically to bring awareness regarding the Safe at Home address confidentiality program and the availability to Tennessee residents who are dealing with domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and stalking issues,” said Stacy Scruggs, program coordinator for Safe at Home.

The Safe at Home address confidentiality program allows participants to protect their home addresses from becoming public record. Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes will be given a substitute address for legal purposes.

“In doing so, they are able to access government services to register to vote, to do all of the normal things a Tennessean would do without making their home address a matter of public record,” Scruggs said. “Safe at Home has partnering agencies in all 95 counties across the state that can assist you in completing an application for the Safe at Home program. They will then submit that to the Secretary of State’s office for approval.”

Scruggs says she hopes the campaign can help alleviate some of the fears victims face.

“It is giving them a sense of security. It’s giving them the ability to access the services that they need without the fear that someone is going to locate them through public records. Keeping their home address confidential and out of those records, ultimately, is what’s going to keep them safe,” Scruggs said.

To learn more about the program, click here.