[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 176 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AMY SANCHEZ: TESTIMONY BEFORE THE BIPARTISAN TASK FORCE TO END SEXUAL 
                                VIOLENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANN M. KUSTER

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 31, 2017

  Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the 
following:

       Good morning Congresspersons Kuster, Speier, Meehan and 
     Joyce. Thank you for inviting me to participate in this 
     important roundtable before the Bipartisan Task Force to End 
     Sexual Violence. My name is Amy Sanchez and I am the CEO of 
     Break the Cycle, a national nonprofit that engages, educates 
     and empowers youth to build lives and communities free from 
     domestic and dating violence. Break the Cycle believes that 
     everyone deserves a healthy relationship and since 1996 has 
     worked to end dating abuse, domestic violence, sexual 
     assault, and stalking in the lives of young people ages 12 to 
     24 across the U.S. Thank you for holding this roundtable 
     today to address the steps Congress can take to support the 
     implementation of K through 12 healthy relationships and 
     consent education, and to thank you each for being champions 
     for ending sexual violence.
       Dating abuse and sexual violence are public health 
     epidemics with severe impacts for young victims:
       One in three high school students experience either 
     physical or sexual violence, or both, perpetrated by someone 
     they are dating or going out with.
       Nearly 30 percent of adult victims of interpersonal 
     violence homicides from 2003 to 2014 were young women between 
     the ages of 18 and 29. (Unfortunately this CDC study did not 
     address girls younger than 18.)
       In Texas alone, 8 young women 19 and younger were murdered 
     by an intimate partner in 2016.
       More than half of women (69.5 percent) and men (53.6 
     percent) who have been physically or sexually abused, or 
     stalked by a dating partner, first experienced abuse between 
     the ages of 11 and 24.
       Among male high school students who have experienced sexual 
     and physical abuse by a dating partner, more than 1 in 4 have 
     seriously contemplated suicide, and almost as many have 
     attempted suicide.
       Among female high school students who have experienced 
     sexual and physical abuse by a dating partner, nearly half 
     have seriously contemplated suicide, and more than 1 in 4 
     have attempted suicide.
       We also know that raising awareness early is essential to 
     ending this epidemic because:
       More than half (58 percent) of college students do not know 
     how to help someone who is experiencing dating abuse; and
       Nearly all college students (89 percent) are not confident 
     in their ability to recognize the warning signs of dating 
     violence.
       Both intervention and prevention are keys to stopping 
     dating abuse and sexual assault among young people. To that 
     end, Break the Cycle's work focuses on three: 1) direct legal 
     representation to young victims ages 12 to 24 in Washington, 
     DC, in restraining order, Title IX, and victim witness 
     advocacy cases; 2) supporting youth leadership on dating 
     abuse issues in schools and communities; and 3) providing 
     education programs to schools and other youth-serving 
     entities on supporting young people to prevent dating abuse 
     and sexual assault. My remaining remarks will address the 
     third element of this work--prevention education--and how we 
     can ensure that every K through 12 student in the U.S. has 
     access to developmentally appropriate programming.
       Break the Cycle's prevention programming takes many forms, 
     including Healthy Relationships workshops, Resource Manuals 
     for schoolteachers and administrators, and Real Talks. The 
     goal is always to create a space for youth to engage in open 
     and honest conversations about healthy and unhealthy 
     relationship behaviors in order to:
       decrease the isolation that young victims so often feel;
       enable young people to lead conversations about the good, 
     the bad, and the normal in dating and relationships today;
       teach young people how best to provide support to each 
     other since we know they often do not report dating/sexual 
     abuse to an adult;
       allow young people to talk without fear of being judged or 
     influenced by adults;
       educate young people about dating abuse, including its 
     warning signs; and
       build on the lived realities of young people to develop 
     effective engagement strategies to end dating violence and 
     create a culture without abuse.
       To prevent dating abuse and sexual violence among young 
     people, Congress must fund primary prevention in every 
     school. The funded approaches should meet the best practices 
     standards set by the CDC, including that the education be: 
     comprehensive; offered in sufficient dosage; socio-culturally 
     relevant; evidence-based; offered by well-trained 
     implementers; include outcome evaluations; and employ varied 
     teaching methods.
       One cannot check social media or news outlets today without 
     reading about another sexual assault case, including on our 
     school campuses. School districts are waking up to the fact 
     that primary prevention programs are needed to teach young 
     people about healthy and unhealthy relationship patterns and 
     what consent means. Many states, including Virginia, Florida, 
     Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, and Rhode 
     Island, are leading the way by requiring that schools include 
     consent and healthy relationships education within their 
     sexual education curricula.
       Budget choices are policy choices, and Congress has the 
     opportunity to support these state efforts through adequate 
     funding. One such avenue is the $5 million increase for Rape 
     Prevention Education in the Senate Appropriations Bill--the 
     Task Force should champion this increase in RPE in the House 
     as a concrete step towards ending dating abuse and sexual 
     assault.
       I want to close with some words from the sister of a dating 
     abuse survivor who Break the Cycle assisted. She wrote BTC: 
     ``I had not thought about the need for interventions for 
     young people. But then when my sister needed help, you were 
     there for her. I will never be able to thank you enough for 
     what you did for her. She has since met an amazing man and 
     will be getting married soon. I doubt she will tell you, but 
     you will be there nonetheless--in the form of a safe and 
     whole bride walking into the arms of a man who loves and 
     respects her.'' Through adequate funding and mandates for 
     healthy relationships and consent education in K through 12 
     schools, Congress can be instrumental in preventing dating 
     violence and sexual assault and ensuring that love and 
     respect are the touchstones of relationships that young 
     people form throughout their lives.

                          ____________________