The resolution was
cosponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Maggie
Hassan (D-N.H.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.),
Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.),
Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.),
Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
“Facing the trauma
of sexual assault can seem insurmountable, and survivors deserve the comfort of
knowing they are not alone. So it’s important that we take steps to bring
attention to the services and support available to survivors, honor them by
doing all we can to prevent future offenses. This resolution shines a bright
light on the scourge of these ugly crimes and encourages communities to come
together to support survivors,” Grassley said.
“Talking about
sexual assault is difficult but necessary if we’re going to empower victims to
speak out,” Feinstein said. “A sexual assault occurs almost every minute
in the United States, but most will go unreported. Our resolution will help
raise awareness, combat this problem and lift the stigma that prevents too many
victims from coming forward.”
“The evidence is
clear that leadership is necessary to end sexual violence. We're grateful for
the consistent leadership of Senator Feinstein and Senator Grassley in
addressing the needs of survivors and supporting prevention programs. As the
primary sponsors of this resolution honoring April as Sexual Assault Awareness
Month, they send a strong message to survivors that they are not alone and
elevate the needs of rape crisis centers in the national conversation,” said
Terri Poore, policy director at the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
“It is vital to
recognize and raise our country's consciousness of addressing sexual assault in
all its forms, especially in culturally specific communities,” said
Condencia Brade, strategic director at the National Organization of Sisters of
Color Ending Sexual Assault.
“April, or Sexual Assault Awareness and
Prevention Month, is an important opportunity to share hope and empathy with
survivors. We must continue our work to advance legislation that removes
barriers that survivors face in pursuing justice. We look forward to working
with Congress to increase survivors’ access to trauma-informed care in the
aftermath of an assault, to protect children on the internet, and to ensure
that every survivor who chooses to report has access to the criminal justice
system,” said RAINN.
Recognizing and supporting the goals
and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
Whereas the Senate is committed to
the awareness, prevention, and deterrence of sexual violence affecting
individuals in the United States;
Whereas, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this preamble as the “CDC”),
1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experience sexual or physical violence and
stalking by an intimate partner;
Whereas, according to the 2020 Child
Maltreatment Report of the Department of Health and Human Services, child
protection service agencies throughout the United States substantiated, or
found strong evidence to indicate that, 57,963 children under 18 years of age were
victims of sexual abuse that year;
Whereas, according to the 2015
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4
men who have experienced a completed or attempted rape experienced it for the
first time between the ages of 11 and 17.
Whereas sexual violence is a burden
for many individuals who serve in the Armed Forces, and the Department of
Defense estimates that approximately 20,500 members of the Armed Forces,
including approximately 13,000 women and 7,500 men, experienced some form of
contact or penetrative sexual assault during 2018;
Whereas, due to the unprecedented
challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, including mandatory stay at home
orders, the needs of sexual assault victims have become even more complex and
challenging;
Whereas sexual assault does not
discriminate on any basis and can affect any individual in the United States;
Whereas sexual violence may take
many forms, including—
(1) acquaintance,
stranger, spousal, and gang rape;
(2) incest;
(3) child sexual abuse;
(4) elder sexual abuse;
(5) sexual abuse and
exploitation of underserved communities;
(6) commercial sex
trafficking;
(7) sexual harassment;
and
(8) stalking;
Whereas studies have suggested that
survivors of color face unique challenges and more should be done to better
understand the impact of sexual violence on communities of color;
Whereas studies have suggested that
the rate at which American Indians and Alaska Natives experience sexual
violence is significantly higher than for other populations in the United
States;
Whereas, according to the National
Alliance to End Sexual Violence, in addition to the immediate physical and
emotional costs, sexual assault has numerous adverse consequences, which can
include post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, major depression,
homelessness, eating disorders, and suicide;
Whereas, according to a 2019 CDC
survey, the average cost of rape is $122,461 for each victim over the victim’s
lifetime, totaling a $3,100,000,000,000 economic burden for survivors of rape
in the United States;
Whereas, according to the National
Crime Victimization Survey, an average of only 23 percent of rapes or sexual
assaults in the United States were reported to law enforcement agencies between
2019 and 2020;
Whereas many sexual assaults are not
reported to law enforcement agencies, and many States have restrictive criminal
statutes of limitations, which enable many perpetrators to evade punishment for
their crimes;
Whereas advances in deoxyribonucleic
acid (commonly known as “DNA”) technology have enabled law enforcement agencies
to identify and prosecute the perpetrators in tens of thousands of previously
unsolved sexual assault cases;
Whereas incarceration of sexual
assault perpetrators can prevent perpetrators from committing additional
crimes;
Whereas, according to a March 2021
survey by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 45 percent of rape
crisis centers lack a therapist on staff and 76 percent of programs had an
increased demand for services in the past year;
Whereas national, State,
territorial, and Tribal coalitions, community-based rape crisis centers,
culturally specific sexual assault organizations and other organizations across
the United States are committed to—
(1) eliminating sexual
violence through prevention and education; and
(2) increasing public
awareness of sexual violence and the prevalence of sexual violence;
Whereas thousands of volunteers and
staff at rape crisis centers, State coalitions against sexual assault,
culturally specific sexual assault organizations and nonprofit organizations
across the United States play an important role in making crisis hotlines and
other services available to survivors of sexual assault;
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 victims and survivors of sexual assault through—
(1) the victim service
programs of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (commonly known and referred
to in this preamble as “RAINN”), including the National Sexual Assault Hotline—
(A) by telephone at
800–656–HOPE; and
(B) online at
https://hotline.rainn.org; and
(2) more than 1,500
sexual assault service providers across the United States;
Whereas the victim service programs
of RAINN, including the National Sexual Assault Hotline, help more than 300,000
survivors and their loved ones each year;
Whereas the Department of Defense
provides the Safe Helpline, Safe HelpRoom, and Safe Helpline mobile application,
each of which provide support and help to members of the Department of Defense
community—
(1) by telephone at
877–995–5247; and
(2) online at
https://SafeHelpline.org;
Whereas individual and collective
efforts reflect the dream of the people of the United States—
(1) for individuals and
organizations to actively work to prevent all forms of sexual violence; and
(2) for no victim of
sexual assault to be unserved or feel that there is no path to justice; and
Whereas April 2022 is recognized as
“National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month”: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That—
(1) it is the sense of
the Senate that—
(A) National Sexual
Assault Awareness and Prevention Month provides a special opportunity to—
(i.) educate the people
of the United States about sexual violence; and
(ii.)
encourage—
(I)
the prevention of sexual assault;
(II)
improvement in the treatment of survivors of sexual
assault; and
(III)
the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual assault;
(B) it is appropriate
to properly acknowledge survivors of sexual assault and to commend the
volunteers and professionals who assist those survivors in their efforts to
heal;
(C) national and
community organizations and private sector supporters should be recognized and
applauded for their work in—
(i.) promoting awareness
about sexual assault;
(ii.)
providing information and treatment to survivors of
sexual assault; and
(iii.)
increasing the number of successful prosecutions of
perpetrators of
sexual assault; and
(D)public safety, law
enforcement, and health professionals should be recognized and applauded for
their hard work and innovative strategies to ensure perpetrators of sexual
assault are held accountable; and
(2) the Senate supports
the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
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