Whereas on average, a person is sexually assaulted in the
United States every 21/2 minutes;
Whereas the Department of Justice reports that more than
200,000 people in the United States are sexually assaulted each year;
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 8 percent increase from fiscal year 2007;
Whereas children and young adults are most at risk of
sexual assault, as 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under 18 years of
age, and 80 percent are under 30 years of age;
Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of
all racial, social, religious, age, ethnic, and economic groups in the United
States;
Whereas women, children, and men suffer multiple types of
sexual violence, including 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 attempted rape victimization among women in institutions of higher education
is 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;
Whereas only 41 percent of sexual assault victims pursue
prosecution by reporting their attack to law enforcement agencies;
Whereas 2/3 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, because of 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 those individuals from
committing further crimes;
Whereas national, State, territory, and tribal coalitions,
community-based rape crisis centers, and other organizations across the United
States are committed to increasing public awareness of sexual violence and its
prevalence, and to eliminating sexual violence 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 in 2011, the Department of Defense and the Rape,
Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) launched the DoD Safe Helpline,
which provides live, one-on-one help to members of the United States Armed
Forces who have been sexually assaulted;
Whereas the DoD Safe Helpline provides live help to active
duty personnel and other members of the DoD community worldwide by phone
(877–995–5247) and online at SafeHelpline.org, as well as installation-based
referrals via texting;
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 2009 levels, 56 percent have
experienced a reduction in staffing, 23 percent 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 the
dream of the people of the United States for a Nation where individuals and
organizations actively work to prevent all forms of sexual violence and no
sexual assault victim goes unserved or ever feels that there is no path to
justice; and
Whereas April is recognized as National Sexual
Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
: Now, therefore, be it
That—
(1)it is the sense of
the Senate 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 survivors of sexual
assault, and the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual assault;
(B)it is appropriate
to properly acknowledge the more than 20,000,000 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 survivors of sexual assault, and 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 increase the percentage of sexual
assault cases that result in the prosecution and incarceration of the
offenders;
(2)the Senate
strongly recommends that national and community organizations, businesses in
the private sector, institutions of higher education, and the media 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 Senate
supports the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and
Prevention Month.