[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 9 (Monday, January 25, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      NATIONAL TEEN DATING VIOLENCE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I ask unanimous 
consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further 
consideration and the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. 
Res. 373.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 373) designating the month of 
     February 2010 as ``National Teen Dating Violence Awareness 
     and Prevention Month.''

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the amendment to the preamble be agreed to, 
the preamble, as amended, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider 
be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 373) was agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 3307) was agreed to, as follows:

       In the sixteenth whereas clause of the preamble, strike 
     ``haven'' and insert ``have''.

  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, as amended, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 373

       Whereas dating, domestic, and sexual violence affect women 
     regardless of their age, and teens and young women are 
     especially vulnerable;
       Whereas, approximately 1 in 3 adolescent girls in the 
     United States is a victim of physical, emotional, or verbal 
     abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds 
     victimization rates for other types of violence affecting 
     youth;
       Whereas nationwide, 1 in 10 high school students (9.9 
     percent) has been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose 
     by a boyfriend or girlfriend;
       Whereas more than 1 in 4 teenagers have been in a 
     relationship where a partner is verbally abusive;
       Whereas 20 percent of teen girls exposed to physical dating 
     violence did not attend school because the teen girls felt 
     unsafe either at school, or on the way to or from school, on 
     1 or more occasions in a 30-day period;
       Whereas violent relationships in adolescence can have 
     serious ramifications for victims by putting the victims at 
     higher risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky 
     sexual behavior, suicide, and adult revictimization;
       Whereas being physically and sexually abused leaves teen 
     girls up to 6 times more likely to become pregnant and more 
     than 2 times as likely to report a sexually transmitted 
     disease;
       Whereas nearly 3 in 4 children ages 11 to 14 (referred to 
     in this preamble as ``tweens''), say that dating 
     relationships usually begin at age 14 or younger and about 72 
     percent of eighth and ninth graders report ``dating'';
       Whereas 1 in 5 tweens say their friends are victims of 
     dating violence and nearly \1/2\ of tweens who are in 
     relationships know friends who are verbally abused;
       Whereas more than 3 times as many tweens (20 percent) as 
     parents of tweens (6 percent) admit that parents know little 
     or nothing about the dating relationships of tweens;
       Whereas teen dating abuse most often takes place in the 
     home of 1 of the partners;
       Whereas a majority of parents surveyed believe they have 
     had a conversation with their teen about what it means to be 
     in a healthy relationship, but the majority of teens surveyed 
     said that they have not had a conversation about dating abuse 
     with a parent in the past year;
       Whereas digital abuse and ``sexting'' is becoming a new 
     frontier for teen dating abuse;
       Whereas 1 in 4 teens in a relationship say they have been 
     called names, harassed, or put down by their partner through 
     cellphones and texting;
       Whereas 3 in 10 young people have sent or received nude 
     pictures of other young people on their cell or online, and 
     61 percent who have ``sexted'' report being pressured to do 
     so at least once;
       Whereas targets of digital abuse are almost 3 times as 
     likely to contemplate suicide as those who have not 
     encountered such abuse (8 percent vs. 3 percent), and targets 
     of digital abuse are nearly 3 times more likely to have 
     considered dropping out of school;
       Whereas the severity of violence among intimate partners 
     has been shown to be greater in cases where the pattern of 
     violence has been established in adolescence;
       Whereas primary prevention programs are a key part of 
     addressing teen dating violence and many successful community 
     examples include education, community outreach, and social 
     marketing campaigns that also understand the cultural 
     appropriateness of programs;
       Whereas skilled assessment and intervention programs are 
     also necessary for youth victims and abusers; and
       Whereas the establishment of National Teen Dating Violence 
     Awareness and Prevention Month will benefit schools, 
     communities, and families regardless of socioeconomic status, 
     race, or sex: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates the month of February 2010, as ``National 
     Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month'';
       (2) supports communities to empower teens to develop 
     healthier relationships; and
       (3) calls upon the people of the United States, including 
     youth and parents, schools, law enforcement, State and local 
     officials, and interested groups to observe National Teen 
     Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with 
     appropriate programs and activities that promote awareness 
     and prevention of the crime of teen dating violence in their 
     communities.

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