[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1259 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1259
Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual Assault
Awareness Month.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 15, 2010
Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mr. Poe of Texas, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms.
Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Herseth Sandlin, Mr. Costa, Mr. Kennedy, Mr.
Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Kind, Ms. Richardson, Mr. Delahunt, Mr.
McNerney, Ms. Kilroy, and Ms. Giffords) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual Assault
Awareness Month.
Whereas, on average, a person is sexually assaulted in the United States every
2\1/2\ minutes;
Whereas the Department of Justice reports that 203,830 people in the United
States were sexually assaulted in 2008;
Whereas 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have been victims of rape or attempted
rape;
Whereas the Department of Defense received 2,908 reports of sexual assault
involving members of the Armed Forces in fiscal year 2008, representing
an eight percent increase from fiscal 2007;
Whereas children and young adults are most at risk of sexual assault, as 44
percent of sexual assault victims are under the age of 18, and 80
percent are under the age of 30;
Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of all racial, social,
religious, age, ethnic, ability, and economic groups in the United
States;
Whereas women, children, and men suffer multiple types of sexual violence,
including but not limited to acquaintance, stranger, spousal, and gang
rape, incest, child sexual molestation, forced prostitution,
trafficking, forced pornography, ritual abuse, sexual harassment, and
stalking;
Whereas it is estimated that the percentage of completed or attempt rape
victimization among women in higher educational institutions may be
between 20 and 25 percent over the course of a college career;
Whereas, in addition to the immediate physical and emotional costs, sexual
assault has associated consequences that may include post-traumatic
stress disorder, substance abuse, major depression, homelessness, eating
disorders, and suicide, among others;
Whereas only 41 percent of sexual assault victims pursue prosecution by
reporting their attack to law enforcement agencies;
Whereas two-thirds of sexual crimes are committed by persons who are not
strangers to the victims;
Whereas sexual assault survivors suffer emotional scars long after the physical
scars have healed;
Whereas, with recent advances in DNA technology, law enforcement agencies have
the potential to identify the rapists in tens of thousands of unsolved
rape cases;
Whereas aggressive prosecution can lead to the incarceration of rapists and
therefore prevent them from committing further crimes;
Whereas national, State, territory, and tribal coalitions, community-based rape
crisis centers, and other organizations across the Nation are committed
to increasing public awareness of sexual violence and its prevalence,
and to eliminating it through prevention and education;
Whereas important partnerships have been formed among criminal and juvenile
justice agencies, health professionals, public health workers,
educators, first responders, and victim service providers;
Whereas free, confidential help is available to all survivors of sexual assault
through the National Sexual Assault Hotline, more than 1,000 rape crisis
centers across the United States, and other organizations that provide
services to assist survivors of sexual assault;
Whereas, according to a 2010 survey of rape crisis centers by the National
Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 72 percent of programs have experienced
a reduction in funding over the past year, 56 percent have experienced a
reduction in staffing, 23 percent currently have a waiting list for
services, and funding and staffing cuts have resulted in an overall 50
percent reduction in the provision of institutional advocacy services;
Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect our dream for a Nation where
citizens and organizations actively work to prevent all forms of sexual
violence and no sexual assault victim goes unserved or ever feels there
is no path to justice; and
Whereas April is recognized as ``National Sexual Assault Awareness and
Prevention Month'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
(A) National Sexual Assault Awareness and
Prevention Month provides a special opportunity to
educate the people of the United States about sexual
violence and to encourage the prevention of sexual
assault, the improved treatment of its survivors, and
the prosecution of its perpetrators;
(B) it is appropriate to properly acknowledge the
more than 20 million men and women who have survived
sexual assault in the United States and salute the
efforts of survivors, volunteers, and professionals who
combat sexual assault;
(C) national and community organizations and
private sector supporters should be recognized and
applauded for their work in promoting awareness about
sexual assault, providing information and treatment to
its survivors, and increasing the number of successful
prosecutions of its perpetrators; and
(D) public safety, law enforcement, and health
professionals should be recognized and applauded for
their hard work and innovative strategies to increase
the percentage of sexual assault cases that result in
the prosecution and incarceration of the offenders;
(2) the House of Representatives strongly recommends
national and community organizations, businesses in the private
sector, colleges and universities, and the media to promote,
through National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month,
awareness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the
incidence of sexual assault; and
(3) the House of Representatives supports the goals and
ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention
Month.
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