III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 178 

Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault 

Awareness and Prevention Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. GRASSLEY) 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 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 


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•SRES 178 IS 

(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; 


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•SRES 178 IS 

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 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; 


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•SRES 178 IS 

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 


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•SRES 178 IS 

(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 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) it is the sense of the Senate that— 


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•SRES 178 IS 

1 (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness 

2 and Prevention Month provides a special oppor3 tunity to— 

4 (i) educate the people of the United 

5 States about sexual violence; and 

6 (ii) encourage— 

7 (I) the prevention of sexual as8 sault; 

9 (II) improvement in the treat10 ment of survivors of sexual assault; 

11 and 

12 (III) the prosecution of perpetra13 tors of sexual assault; 

14 (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowl15 edge survivors of sexual assault and to com16 mend the volunteers and professionals who as17 sist those survivors in their efforts to heal; 

18 (C) national and community organizations 

19 and private sector supporters should be recog20 nized and applauded for their work in— 

21 (i) promoting awareness about sexual 

22 assault; 

23 (ii) providing information and treat24 ment to survivors of sexual assault; and 


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1 (iii) increasing the number of success2 ful prosecutions of perpetrators of sexual 

3 assault; and 

4 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 

5 health professionals should be recognized and 

6 applauded for their hard work and innovative 

7 strategies to ensure perpetrators of sexual as8 sault are held accountable; and 

9 (2) the Senate supports the goals and ideals of 

10 National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

11 Month. 

Æ 


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