[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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