III 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 117 

Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault 

Awareness and Prevention Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2013 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. FRANKEN) 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, on average, a person is sexually assaulted in the 

United States every 2 minutes; 

Whereas the Department of Justice reports that more than 

200,000 people in the United States are sexually assaulted each year; 

Whereas nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have been 

victims of rape at some point in their lives; 

Whereas the Department of Defense received 3,158 reports 

of sexual assault involving members of the Armed Forces 

in fiscal year 2010; 

Whereas children and young adults are most at risk of sexual 

assault, as 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under 


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•SRES 117 IS 

18 years of age, and 80 percent are under 30 years of 

age; 

Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of 

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

groups in the United States; 

Whereas women, men, and children suffer multiple types of 

sexual violence, including acquaintance, stranger, spousal, 

and gang rape, incest, child sexual molestation, forced 

prostitution, trafficking, forced pornography, ritual 

abuse, sexual harassment, and stalking; 

Whereas it is estimated that the percentage of completed or 

attempted rape victimization among women in institutions of higher education is between 20 and 25 percent 

over the course of a college career; 

Whereas, in addition to the immediate physical and emotional 

costs, sexual assault has associated consequences that 

may include post-traumatic stress disorder, substance 

abuse, major depression, homelessness, eating disorders, 

and suicide; 

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, because of advances in DNA technology, law enforcement agencies have the potential to identify the rapists in tens of thousands of unsolved rape cases; 


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•SRES 117 IS 

Whereas aggressive prosecution can lead to the incarceration 

of rapists and therefore prevent those individuals from 

committing further crimes; 

Whereas national, State, territory, and tribal coalitions, community-based rape crisis centers, and other organizations 

across the United States are committed to increasing 

public awareness of sexual violence and its prevalence, 

and to 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 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; 

Whereas, according to a 2011 survey of rape crisis centers 

by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 50 percent of the rape crisis centers have experienced a reduction in staffing, 65 percent of the rape crisis centers have 

a waiting list for services, and funding and staffing cuts 

have resulted in 67 percent of the rape crisis centers having to reduce the amount of hours they spend dedicated 

to prevention and awareness; 

Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect the dream of 

the people of the United States for a country where individuals and organizations actively work to prevent all 

forms of sexual violence and no sexual assault victim goes 


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unserved or ever feels that there is no path to justice; 

and 

Whereas April 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— 

3 (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness 

4 and Prevention Month provides a special oppor5 tunity to educate the people of the United 

6 States about sexual violence and to encourage 

7 the prevention of sexual assault, the improved 

8 treatment of survivors of sexual assault, and 

9 the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual as10 sault; 

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 survivors 

22 of sexual assault, and increasing the number of 


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1 successful prosecutions of perpetrators of sexual 

2 assault; and 

3 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 

4 health professionals should be recognized and 

5 applauded for their hard work and innovative 

6 strategies to increase the percentage of sexual 

7 assault cases that result in the prosecution and 

8 incarceration of the offenders; 

9 (2) the Senate strongly recommends that na10 tional and community organizations, businesses in 

11 the private sector, institutions of higher education, 

12 and the media promote, through National Sexual 

13 Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, aware14 ness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the 

15 incidence of sexual assault; and 

16 (3) the Senate supports the goals and ideals of 

17 National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

18 Month. 

Æ 


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