III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 104 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 29, 2009 

Received and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault 

Awareness and Prevention Month. 

Whereas on average, a person is sexually assaulted in the 

United States every two-and-a-half minutes; 

Whereas the Department of Justice reports that 191,670 

people in the United States were sexually assaulted in 

2005; 

Whereas 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have been victims 

of rape or attempted rape; 


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HCON 104 RFS 

Whereas the Department of Defense received 2,688 reports 

of sexual assault involving members of the Armed Forces 

in fiscal year 2007; 

Whereas children and young adults are most at risk of sexual 

assault, as 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under 

the age of 18, and 80 percent are under the age of 30; 

Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of 

all racial, social, religious, age, ethnic, and economic 

groups in the United States; 

Whereas only 41 percent of sexual assault victims pursue 

prosecution by reporting their attack to law enforcement 

agencies; 

Whereas two-thirds of sexual crimes are committed by persons who are not strangers to the victims; 

Whereas sexual assault survivors suffer emotional scars long 

after the physical scars have healed; 

Whereas prevention education programs carried out by rape 

crisis and women’s health centers have the potential to 

reduce the prevalence of sexual assault in their communities; 

Whereas because of recent advances in DNA technology, law 

enforcement agencies have the potential to identify the 

rapists in tens of thousands of unsolved rape cases; 

Whereas aggressive prosecution can incarcerate rapists and 

therefore prevent them from committing further crimes; 

Whereas free, confidential help is available to all survivors of 

sexual assault through the National Sexual Assault Hotline, more than 1,000 rape crisis centers across the 

United States, and other organizations that provide services to assist survivors of sexual assault; and 


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Whereas April is recognized as ‘‘National Sexual Assault 

Awareness and Prevention Month’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That— 

3 (1) it is the sense of Congress that— 

4 (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness 

5 and Prevention Month provides a special oppor6 tunity to educate the people of the United 

7 States about sexual violence and to encourage 

8 the prevention of sexual assault, the improved 

9 treatment of its survivors, and the prosecution 

10 of its perpetrators; 

11 (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowl12 edge the more than 20,000,000 men and 

13 women who have survived sexual assault in the 

14 United States and salute the efforts of sur15 vivors, volunteers, and professionals who com16 bat sexual assault; 

17 (C) national and community organizations 

18 and private sector supporters should be recog19 nized and applauded for their work in pro20 moting awareness about sexual assault, pro21 viding information and treatment to its sur22 vivors, and increasing the number of successful 

23 prosecutions of its perpetrators; and 


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1 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 

2 health professionals should be recognized and 

3 applauded for their hard work and innovative 

4 strategies to increase the percentage of sexual 

5 assault cases that result in the prosecution and 

6 incarceration of the offenders; 

7 (2) Congress strongly recommends national and 

8 community organizations, businesses in the private 

9 sector, colleges and universities, and the media to 

10 promote, through National Sexual Assault Aware11 ness and Prevention Month, awareness of sexual vio12 lence and strategies to decrease the incidence of sex13 ual assault; and 

14 (3) Congress supports the goals and ideals of 

15 National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

16 Month. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 28, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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