[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 30, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2524-S2525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 178--RECOGNIZING AND SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS 
       OF NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. Ernst, and Mr. Grassley) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 178

       Whereas the Senate is committed to the awareness, 
     prevention, and deterrence of sexual violence affecting 
     individuals in the United States;
       Whereas, according to the Department of Justice and the 
     Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated 399,861 
     individuals, including victims under 18 years of age, in the 
     United States experienced sexual violence during 2017;
       Whereas, according to the National Crime Victimization 
     Survey, between 2007 and 2017, approximately--
       (1) 3,018,600 women were victims of rape and sexual 
     assault; and
       (2) 453,200 men were victims of rape and sexual assault;
       Whereas, according to the 2017 Child Maltreatment Report of 
     the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2017, child 
     protective services agencies substantiated 58,114 cases of 
     sexual abuse of children under 18 years of age;
       Whereas, in fiscal year 2018, the Department of Justice 
     reported 9,100 State and local arrests of individuals charged 
     with online sexual victimization of children under 18 years 
     of age;
       Whereas, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National 
     Network (commonly known as ``RAINN''), an individual is 
     sexually assaulted every 92 seconds in the United States, but 
     for every 1,000 rapes committed in the United States, on 
     average only--
       (1) 330 rapes are reported to law enforcement agencies;
       (2) 59 reported rape cases lead to an arrest;
       (3) 10 rape cases are referred for prosecution;
       (4) 6 rape cases lead to a felony conviction; and
       (5) 5 convicted rapists are sentenced to some form of 
     incarceration;
       Whereas, according to the National Crime Victimization 
     Survey, between 2013 and 2017, an average of only 33 percent 
     of rapes or sexual assaults in the United States were 
     reported to law enforcement agencies;
       Whereas studies have suggested that the rate at which 
     American Indians and Alaska Natives experience sexual 
     violence is significantly higher than for other populations 
     in the United States;
       Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, nearly 1 in 5 women, or 18.3 percent, and 1 in 71 
     men, or 1.4 percent, surveyed in the United States in 2010 
     experienced a rape or attempted rape at some time in their 
     lives;
       Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, more than \1/2\ of all female rape victims 
     reported being raped by an intimate partner;
       Whereas sexual violence is a burden for many individuals 
     who serve in the Armed Forces, and the Department of Defense 
     estimates that approximately 14,900 members of the Armed 
     Forces experienced some form of sexual assault during 2016;
       Whereas sexual assault does not discriminate on any basis 
     and can affect any individual in the United States;
       Whereas sexual violence may take many forms, including 
     acquaintance, stranger, spousal, and gang rape, incest, child 
     sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, elder sexual abuse, 
     sexual abuse and exploitation of disabled persons, commercial 
     sex trafficking, sexual harassment, and stalking;
       Whereas, according to the National Alliance to End Sexual 
     Violence, in addition to immediate physical and emotional 
     costs, sexual assault can have numerous adverse

[[Page S2525]]

     consequences for the victim, which may include post-traumatic 
     stress disorder, substance abuse, major depression, 
     homelessness, eating disorders, and suicide;
       Whereas many sexual assaults are not reported to law 
     enforcement agencies, and many States have restrictive 
     criminal statutes of limitations, which enable many rapists 
     to evade punishment for their crimes;
       Whereas sexual assault survivors suffer emotional 
     complications long after their physical scars have healed;
       Whereas advances in deoxyribonucleic acid (commonly known 
     as ``DNA'') technology have enabled law enforcement agencies 
     to identify and prosecute the perpetrators in tens of 
     thousands of previously unsolved sexual assault cases;
       Whereas incarceration of sexual assault perpetrators can 
     prevent perpetrators from committing additional crimes;
       Whereas national, State, territorial, and Tribal 
     coalitions, community-based rape crisis centers, and other 
     organizations across the United States are committed to--
       (1) increasing public awareness of sexual violence and the 
     prevalence of sexual violence; and
       (2) 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 thousands of volunteers and staff at rape crisis 
     centers, State coalitions against sexual assault, and 
     nonprofit organizations across the United States play an 
     important role in making crisis hotlines and other services 
     available to survivors of sexual assault;
       Whereas free, confidential help is available to all victims 
     and survivors of sexual assault through--
       (1) the National Sexual Assault Hotline--
          (A) by telephone at 800-656-HOPE; and
          (B) online at https://hotline.rainn.org; and
       (2) more than 1,000 sexual assault service providers across 
     the United States;
       Whereas the victim service programs of RAINN, including the 
     National Sexual Assault Hotline--
       (1) in 2018, helped 267,621 survivors of sexual assault and 
     their loved ones, which represented the greatest number of 
     people assisted since the founding of the hotline in 1994; 
     and
       (2) continue to receive a record number of requests for 
     support in 2019;
       Whereas the Department of Defense provides the Safe 
     Helpline hotline, Safe HelpRoom online chat service, and Safe 
     Helpline mobile application, each of which offer support and 
     help to members of the Department of Defense community--
       (1) by telephone at 877-995-5247; and
       (2) online at https://safehelpline.org;
       Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect the dream 
     of the people of the United States--
       (1) for individuals and organizations to actively work to 
     prevent all forms of sexual violence; and
       (2) for no victim of sexual assault to be unserved or feel 
     that there is no path to justice; and
       Whereas April 2019 is recognized as ``National Sexual 
     Assault Awareness and Prevention Month'': Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month 
     provides a special opportunity to--
       (i) educate the people of the United States about sexual 
     violence; and
       (ii) encourage--

       (I) the prevention of sexual assault;
       (II) improvement in the treatment of survivors of sexual 
     assault; and
       (III) the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual assault;

       (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowledge survivors of 
     sexual assault and to commend the volunteers and 
     professionals who assist those survivors in their efforts to 
     heal;
       (C) national and community organizations and private sector 
     supporters should be recognized and applauded for their work 
     in--
       (i) promoting awareness about sexual assault;
       (ii) providing information and treatment to survivors of 
     sexual assault; and
       (iii) 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 ensure perpetrators of 
     sexual assault are held accountable; and
       (2) the Senate supports the goals and ideals of National 
     Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

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