Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of "National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month".

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 319 Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of ‘‘National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 12, 2019 Mr. REED (for himself, Ms. SPEIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. BEYER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. POCAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. COHEN, Mr. EMMER, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. NADLER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. ROYBAL- ALLARD, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MOORE, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. SWALWELL of California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of ‘‘National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month’’. Whereas the House of Representatives is committed to the awareness, prevention, and deterrence of sexual violence affecting Americans; Whereas according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), an individual is sexually assaulted every 92 seconds in the United States, but for every 1,000 rapes committed, on average only— (1) 330 rapes are reported to law enforcement; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR319.IH HR319 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 319 IH (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 approximately 341,747 Americans aged 12 and over experienced sexual violence in 2017, according to the De- partment of Justice; Whereas 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, according to the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention; Whereas sexual violence is a burden for many individuals who serve in the United States Armed Forces, and the De- partment of Defense estimates that in 2016, approxi- mately 14,900 servicemembers experienced some form of sexual assault; Whereas children and young adults are at significant risk of sexual assault, as up to 44 percent of sexual assault vic- tims are under 18 years of age, and the majority of sex- ual assault victims are under 30 years of age; Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of all racial, social, religious, age, ethnic, national origin, and socioeconomic groups in the United States; Whereas sexual violence may take many forms, including ac- quaintance, stranger, spousal, and gang rape, incest, child sexual abuse, elder sexual abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation of disabled persons and members of the LGBTQ communities, commercial sex trafficking, sexual harassment, and stalking; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR319.IH HR319 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 319 IH Whereas in addition to the immediate physical and emotional costs of sexual assault, sexual assault has numerous ad- verse consequences, which can include post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, major depression, home- lessness, eating disorders, and suicide, according to the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence; Whereas many sexual assaults are not reported to law en- forcement agencies, and many States have restrictive criminal statutes of limitations, which enable many rap- ists to evade punishment for their crimes; Whereas approximately 70 percent of sexual crimes are com- mitted by individuals who are known to the victim; Whereas sexual assault survivors suffer emotional scars long after the physical scars have healed; Whereas DNA technology has enabled perpetrators to be identified and prosecuted in many rape cases; Whereas prosecution can lead to the incarceration of rapists and prevent those individuals from committing additional crimes; Whereas national, State, territorial, and Tribal coalitions, community-based rape crisis centers, and other organiza- tions across the United States are committed to— (1) serving survivors of sexual violence; (2) eliminating sexual violence through prevention and education; and (3) increasing public awareness of sexual violence and the prevalence of sexual violence; Whereas according to the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 53 percent of rape crisis centers have a waiting list for counseling services and rely on Federal, State, VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR319.IH HR319 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 319 IH and local funding sources to provide services to survivors and prevention activities in their communities; Whereas student survivors in K–12 and postsecondary edu- cation need access to accommodations and support, and schools have a responsibility to respond to and prevent sexual violence; Whereas important partnerships have been formed among criminal and juvenile justice agencies, health profes- sionals, public health workers, educators, first respond- ers, and victim service providers; Whereas thousands of volunteers and staff at rape crisis cen- ters, State coalitions against sexual assault, and non- profit organizations across the United States play an im- portant 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) RAINN’s victim service programs, including the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800–656–HOPE and online.rainn.org), helped 267,621 survivors and their loved ones in 2018, the most since its founding, and con- tinues to receive record requests for support in 2019; and (2) more than 1,000 sexual assault service providers across the United States; Whereas the Department of Defense Safe Helpline, Safe HelpRoom, and Safe Helpline mobile app each provide support and help to members of the Department of De- fense community— (1) by telephone at 877–995–5247; and (2) online at SafeHelpline.org; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR319.IH HR319 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 319 IH Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect the dream of the people of the United States— (1) that individuals and organizations actively work to prevent all forms of sexual violence; and (2) for no sexual assault victim to be unserved or feel that there is no path to justice; Whereas in the last year the powerful stories of sexual as- sault survivors have brought attention to the importance of addressing sexual violence to the forefront of our soci- ety; and Whereas April 2019 is recognized as ‘‘National Sexual As- sault Awareness and Prevention Month’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That— 1 (1) it is the sense of the House of Representa- 2 tives that— 3 (A) ‘‘National Sexual Assault Awareness 4 and Prevention Month’’ provides a special op- 5 portunity to educate the people of the United 6 States about sexual violence and to encourage 7 sexual assault prevention programs, to improve 8 the treatment of and services to survivors of 9 sexual assault, and to increase the prosecution 10 of perpetrators; 11 (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowl- 12 edge survivors of sexual assault and to com- 13 mend the volunteers and professionals who as- 14 sist those survivors in their efforts to heal; 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR319.IH HR319 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 319 IH (C) national and community organizations 1 and private sector supporters should be recog- 2 nized and applauded for their work in pro- 3 moting awareness about sexual assault, pro- 4 viding information and treatment to survivors 5 of sexual assault, and increasing the number of 6 successful prosecutions of perpetrators of sexual 7 assault; and 8 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 9 health professionals should be recognized and 10 applauded for their hard work and innovative 11 strategies to ensure perpetrators of sexual as- 12 sault are held accountable; and 13 (2) the House of Representatives supports the 14 goals and ideals of ‘‘National Sexual Assault Aware- 15 ness and Prevention Month’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR319.IH HR319 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS