IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 675 

Supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

Month. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2016 

Mr. REED (for himself, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mrs. BLACK, 

Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DOLD, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

FOSTER, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KIND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 

MEEHAN, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

RICHMOND, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SWALWELL of California, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. YARMUTH) 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 sexual violence is widespread and impacts every person in this country, on average another person in the 

United States is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes; 

Whereas rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment harm 

every community, and statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show 1 in 5 women 


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and 1 in 71 men will be raped at some point in their 

lives; 

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; 

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 

3 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the population at large, while non-students are about 4 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; 

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 reports of this devastating crime more accurate; 

Whereas in addition to the immediate physical and emotional 

costs, sexual assault has been associated with long-term 

consequences including 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 acquaintVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Apr 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR675.IH HR675

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ance of the victim, and 8 out of 10 victims know the person who sexually assaulted them; 

Whereas less than half of victims of sexual assault pursue 

prosecution by reporting their attack to law enforcement 

and sexual assault is the most underreported violent 

crime; 

Whereas we have the potential to identify and prosecute rapists in tens of thousands of unsolved cases 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 backlog; 

Whereas aggressive prosecution can lead to the incarceration 

of rapists, 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 preventing sexual violence through increased education, awareness and community involvement; 

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 2015 survey of rape crisis centers by 

the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 1⁄3 of rape 

crisis centers had to decrease hours of services for individual or group counseling; almost 1⁄2 had a waiting list 

for counseling services; and 1⁄3 had a waiting list for prevention programs; 


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Whereas free, confidential help is available to all victims and 

survivors of sexual assault through the National Sexual 

Assault Hotlines (800–656–HOPE and ohl.rainn.org, 

ohl.rainn.org/es/), and more than 1,000 sexual assault 

service providers across the Nation; 

Whereas sexual violence is also a burden for many who serve 

the Nation, and the Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that approximately 19,000 service members experienced unwanted sexual contact in fiscal year 2014; 

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 the 

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 


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1 the prevention of sexual assault, the improved 

2 treatment of its victims, and the prosecution of 

3 its perpetrators; 

4 (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowl5 edge the more than 20,000,000 men and 

6 women who have survived sexual assault in the 

7 United States and to salute the efforts of sur8 vivors, volunteers, and professionals who com9 bat sexual assault; 

10 (C) national and community organizations 

11 and private-sector supporters should be recog12 nized and applauded for their work in pro13 moting awareness about sexual assault, pro14 viding information and treatment to its sur15 vivors, and increasing the number of successful 

16 prosecutions of its perpetrators; and 

17 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 

18 health professionals should be recognized and 

19 applauded for their hard work and innovative 

20 strategies to increase the percentage of sexual 

21 assault cases that result in the prosecution and 

22 incarceration of its perpetrators; and 

23 (2) the House of Representatives— 

24 (A) strongly recommends national and 

25 community-based organizations, businesses in 


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1 the private sector, colleges and universities, and 

2 the media promote, through National Sexual 

3 Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, 

4 awareness of sexual violence, resources for its 

5 survivors and their friends and family members, 

6 and strategies to decrease the incidence of sex7 ual assault; and 

8 (B) supports the goals and ideals of Na9 tional Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

10 Month. 

Æ 


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