III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 672 

Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault 

Awareness and Prevention Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2024 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. TILLIS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, 

Ms. HASSAN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WYDEN, 

Mr. HEINRICH, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. ERNST, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. 

FETTERMAN, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 

PADILLA, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. MARSHALL) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

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 Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experience 

sexual or physical violence, or stalking, by an intimate 

partner; 

Whereas, according to the 2022 Child Maltreatment Report 

of the Department of Health and Human Services, child 

protection service agencies throughout the United States 


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substantiated, or found strong evidence to indicate, that 

59,044 children under 18 years of age were victims of 

sexual abuse that year; 

Whereas, according to the 2016/2017 National Intimate 

Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 1 in 3 women and 

1 in 4 men who have experienced a completed or attempted rape experienced it for the first time between the 

ages of 11 and 17; 

Whereas sexual violence is a burden for many individuals who 

serve in the Armed Forces, and the Department of Defense estimates that approximately 35,900 members of 

the Armed Forces, including approximately 19,300 

women and 16,600 men, experienced some form of contact or penetrative sexual assault during 2021; 

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— 

(1) acquaintance, stranger, spousal, and gang rape; 

(2) incest; 

(3) child sexual abuse; 

(4) elder sexual abuse; 

(5) sexual abuse and exploitation of underserved 

communities; 

(6) commercial sex trafficking; 

(7) sexual harassment; and 

(8) stalking; 

Whereas studies have suggested that survivors of color face 

unique challenges and more should be done to better understand the impact of sexual violence on communities of 

color; 


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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; 

Whereas, according to the National Alliance to End Sexual 

Violence, in addition to the immediate physical and emotional costs, sexual assault has numerous adverse consequences, which can include post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, major depression, homelessness, 

eating disorders, and suicide; 

Whereas, according to a 2019 Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention survey, the average cost of rape is 

$122,461 for each victim over the lifetime of the victim, 

totaling a $3,100,000,000,000 economic burden for survivors of rape in the United States; 

Whereas, according to the 2022 National Crime Victimization 

Survey, an average of only 21 percent of rapes or sexual 

assaults in the United States were reported to law enforcement agencies between 2021 and 2022; 

Whereas many sexual assaults are not reported to law enforcement agencies, and many States have restrictive 

criminal statutes of limitations, which enable many perpetrators to evade punishment for their crimes; 

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; 


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Whereas, according to a 2023 survey by the National Alliance 

to End Sexual Violence, 48 percent of rape crisis centers 

lack a therapist on staff, and 70 percent of programs had 

an increased demand for services in the past year; 

Whereas national, State, territorial, and Tribal coalitions, 

community-based rape crisis centers, culturally specific 

sexual assault organizations, and other organizations 

across the United States are committed to— 

(1) eliminating sexual violence through prevention 

and education; and 

(2) increasing public awareness of sexual violence 

and the prevalence of sexual violence; 

Whereas thousands of volunteers and staff at rape crisis centers, State coalitions against sexual assault, culturally 

specific sexual assault organizations, 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 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 victims and 

survivors of sexual assault through— 

(1) the victim service programs of the Rape, Abuse 

& Incest National Network (commonly known and referred to in this preamble as ‘‘RAINN’’), including the 

National Sexual Assault Hotline— 

(A) by telephone at 800–656–HOPE; and 

(B) online at https://hotline.rainn.org; and 

(2) more than 1,500 local rape crisis centers across 

the United States; 


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Whereas the victim service programs of RAINN, including 

the National Sexual Assault Hotline, help more than 

300,000 survivors and their loved ones each year on average; 

Whereas the Department of Defense provides the Safe 

Helpline, Safe HelpRoom, and Safe Helpline mobile application, each of which provide 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 2024 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— 

6 (i) to educate the people of the United 

7 States about sexual violence; and 

8 (ii) to encourage— 

9 (I) the prevention of sexual as10 sault; 


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1 (II) improvement in the treat2 ment of survivors of sexual assault; 

3 and 

4 (III) the prosecution of perpetra5 tors of sexual assault; 

6 (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowl7 edge survivors of sexual assault and to com8 mend the volunteers and professionals who as9 sist those survivors in their efforts to heal; 

10 (C) national and community organizations 

11 and private sector supporters should be recog12 nized and applauded for their work in— 

13 (i) promoting awareness about sexual 

14 assault; 

15 (ii) providing information and treat16 ment to survivors of sexual assault; and 

17 (iii) increasing the number of success18 ful prosecutions of perpetrators of sexual 

19 assault; and 

20 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 

21 health professionals should be recognized and 

22 applauded for their hard work and innovative 

23 strategies to ensure perpetrators of sexual as24 sault are held accountable; and 


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

2 National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

3 Month. 

Æ 


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