[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 675 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 675

    Supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual Assault Awareness and 
                           Prevention Month.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 12, 2016

Mr. Reed (for himself, Ms. Speier, Ms. Adams, Mrs. Beatty, Mrs. Black, 
    Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. 
 Cardenas, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Costa, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Danny K. 
 Davis of Illinois, Mr. Dold, Ms. Edwards, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Foster, Mr. 
Gibson, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Honda, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Jenkins 
 of Kansas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, 
Mr. Kind, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, 
 Ms. Matsui, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Meehan, Ms. Moore, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. 
Pocan, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Swalwell 
of California, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. 
 Watson Coleman, and Mr. Yarmuth) submitted the following resolution; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual Assault Awareness and 
                           Prevention Month.

Whereas sexual violence is widespread and impacts every person in this country, 
        on average another person in the United States is sexually assaulted 
        every 2 minutes;
Whereas rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment harm every community, and 
        statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
        show 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men will be raped at some point in their 
        lives;
Whereas children and young adults are most at risk of sexual assault, as 44 
        percent of victims of sexual assault 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, 
        and religious, age, ethnic, ability, sexual orientation, and economic 
        groups in the United States;
Whereas according to the Department of Justice, all 18- to 24-year-olds are at 
        significant risk of sexual assault, whether they are in college or not;
Whereas female college students in that age range are about 3 times more likely 
        to be sexually assaulted than the population at large, while non-
        students are about 4 times more likely;
Whereas for males 18-24, the risk is higher among college students--men make up 
        17 percent of all college student victims;
Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in its Uniform Crime Reports, 
        expanded its definition of rape to include sexual assault against males, 
        which assists in making reports of this devastating crime more accurate;
Whereas in addition to the immediate physical and emotional costs, sexual 
        assault has been associated with long-term consequences including post-
        traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, depression, homelessness, 
        eating disorders, and suicide;
Whereas all forms of sexual violence are unacceptable, whether committed by a 
        stranger, family member, or acquaintance of the victim, and 8 out of 10 
        victims know the person who sexually assaulted them;
Whereas less than half of victims of sexual assault pursue prosecution by 
        reporting their attack to law enforcement and sexual assault is the most 
        underreported violent crime;
Whereas we have the potential to identify and prosecute rapists in tens of 
        thousands of unsolved cases by fully assessing the scope of the backlog 
        of untested evidence in the possession of law enforcement and crime labs 
        and by using DNA technology to eliminate the backlog;
Whereas aggressive prosecution can lead to the incarceration of rapists, thereby 
        preventing them from committing additional crimes;
Whereas national, State, territory, and tribal coalitions, community-based 
        sexual assault service providers, law enforcement agencies, and other 
        organizations across the United States are committed to preventing 
        sexual violence through increased education, awareness and community 
        involvement;
Whereas important partnerships have formed among criminal justice and juvenile 
        justice agencies, health professionals, public health workers, 
        educators, first responders, and victim service providers;
Whereas according to a 2015 survey of rape crisis centers by the National 
        Alliance to End Sexual Violence, \1/3\ of rape crisis centers had to 
        decrease hours of services for individual or group counseling; almost 
        \1/2\ had a waiting list for counseling services; and \1/3\ had a 
        waiting list for prevention programs;
Whereas free, confidential help is available to all victims and survivors of 
        sexual assault through the National Sexual Assault Hotlines (800-656-
        HOPE and ohl.rainn.org, ohl.rainn.org/es/), and more than 1,000 sexual 
        assault service providers across the Nation;
Whereas sexual violence is also a burden for many who serve the Nation, and the 
        Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that approximately 19,000 service 
        members experienced unwanted sexual contact in fiscal year 2014;
Whereas the DOD Safe Helpline, Safe HelpRoom, and Safe Helpline mobile app 
        provide support and help to active duty service members 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 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 victim of sexual assault goes unserved, and no 
        perpetrator of the crime goes unpunished; 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 victims, and the 
                prosecution of its perpetrators;
                    (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 to 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 its perpetrators; 
                and
            (2) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) strongly recommends national and community-
                based organizations, businesses in the private sector, 
                colleges and universities, and the media promote, 
                through National Sexual Assault Awareness and 
                Prevention Month, awareness of sexual violence, 
                resources for its survivors and their friends and 
                family members, and strategies to decrease the 
                incidence of sexual assault; and
                    (B) supports the goals and ideals of National 
                Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
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