IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 186 

Supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

Month. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. REED (for himself, Ms. MOORE, Mr. POE of Texas, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. MARINO, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. HANNA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GIBSON, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of 

Illinois, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. COFFMAN, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 

New York, and Ms. SPEIER) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of 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 children and young adults are most at risk of sexual 

assault, as 44 percent of victims of sexual assault are 

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

of 30; 


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•HRES 186 IH 

Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of 

all racial, social, and religious, age, ethnic, ability, sexual 

orientation, and economic groups in the United States; 

Whereas, according to the Department of Justice, all 18- to 

24-year olds are at significant risk of sexual assault, 

whether they are in college or not; 

Whereas female college students in that age range are about 

5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the population at large, while non-students are about 6 times 

more likely; 

Whereas for males 18–24, the risk is higher among college 

students: men make up 17 percent of all college student 

victims, and about 4 percent of non-student victims; 

Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in its 

Uniform Crime Reports, expanded its definition of rape 

to include sexual assault against males, which assists in 

making reporting of this devastating crime more accurate; 

Whereas in addition to the immediate physical and emotional 

costs, sexual assault has associated consequences that 

may include post-traumatic stress disorder, substance 

abuse, depression, homelessness, eating disorders, and 

suicide; 

Whereas all forms of sexual violence are unacceptable, whether committed by a stranger, family member, or acquaintance of the victim; 

Whereas less than half of victims of sexual assault pursue 

prosecution by reporting their attack to law enforcement; 

Whereas by fully assessing the scope of the backlog of untested evidence in the possession of law enforcement and 

crime labs and by using DNA technology to eliminate the 


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backlog, we have the potential to identify and prosecute 

rapists in tens of thousands of unsolved cases; 

Whereas aggressive prosecution can lead to the incarceration 

of rapists, who tend to be serial criminals who methodically select their victims and plan their crimes, thereby 

preventing them from committing additional crimes; 

Whereas national, State, territory, and tribal coalitions, community-based sexual assault service providers, law enforcement agencies and other organizations across the 

United States are committed to increasing public awareness of sexual violence and its prevalence, and to eliminating it through improvements to the criminal justice 

system and programs to prevent crime and educate the 

public; 

Whereas important partnerships have formed among criminal 

justice and juvenile justice agencies, health professionals, 

public health workers, educators, first responders, and 

victim service providers; 

Whereas according to a 2014 survey of rape crisis centers by 

the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, more than 

one-third of rape crisis centers have a waiting list for 

services, over 40 percent of rape crisis centers were 

forced to reduce staffing because of funding levels, more 

than one-fourth of rape crisis centers had to decrease the 

number of prevention education services due to insufficient funding, and of those rape crisis centers that made 

staffing reductions, an average of 3 positions were terminated or left vacant; 

Whereas free, confidential help is available to all victims and 

survivors of sexual assault through the National Sexual 

Assault Hotline (800–565–HOPE) and National Sexual 


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Assault Online Hotline (online.rainn.org), and more than 

1,000 sexual assault service providers across the Nation; 

Whereas the Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that 

approximately 19,000 servicemembers experienced unwanted sexual conduct last year; 

Whereas the DOD Safe Helpline, Safe HelpRoom, and Safe 

Helpline mobile app provide support and help to active 

duty service members and other members of the DOD 

community worldwide by phone (877–995–5247) and online at SafeHelpline.org, as well as installation-based referrals via texting; 

Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect our dream for 

a Nation where citizens and organizations actively work 

to prevent all forms of sexual violence and no victim of 

sexual assault goes unserved, and no perpetrator of this 

crime goes unpunished; 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 House of Representa3 tives 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 victims, and the prosecution of 

10 its perpetrators; 


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1 (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowl2 edge the more than 20 million men and women 

3 who have survived sexual assault in the United 

4 States and to salute the efforts of survivors, 

5 volunteers, and professionals who combat sexual 

6 assault; 

7 (C) national and community organizations 

8 and private-sector supporters should be recog9 nized and applauded for their work in pro10 moting awareness about sexual assault, pro11 viding information and treatment to its sur12 vivors, and increasing the number of successful 

13 prosecutions of its perpetrators; and 

14 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 

15 health professionals should be recognized and 

16 applauded for their hard work and innovative 

17 strategies to increase the percentage of sexual 

18 assault cases that result in the prosecution and 

19 incarceration of its perpetrators; 

20 (2) the House of Representatives— 

21 (A) strongly recommends national and 

22 community-based organizations, businesses in 

23 the private sector, colleges and universities, and 

24 the media promote, through National Sexual 

25 Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, 


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1 awareness of sexual violence, resources for its 

2 survivors and their friends and family members, 

3 and strategies to decrease the incidence of sex4 ual assault; and 

5 (B) supports the goals and ideals of Na6 tional Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

7 Month. 

Æ 


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