III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 222 

Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault 

Awareness and Prevention Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2021 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Ms. SMITH, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. MURRAY, 

Mr. TILLIS, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 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 (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘CDC’’), 

1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experience sexual or physical violence and stalking by an intimate partner; 

Whereas, according to the 2019 Child Maltreatment Report 

of the Department of Health and Human Services, child 

protection service agencies throughout the United States 

substantiated, or found strong evidence to indicate that, 


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60,927 children under 18 years of age were victims of 

sexual abuse that year; 

Whereas children and young adults are at significant risk of 

experiencing sexual assault, as up to 69 percent of sexual 

assault victims are under 34 years of age; 

Whereas sexual violence is a burden for many individuals who 

serve in the Armed Forces, and the Department of Defense estimates that approximately 20,500 members of 

the Armed Forces, including approximately 13,000 

women and 7,500 men, experienced some form of contact 

or penetrative sexual assault during 2018; 

Whereas, due to the unprecedented challenges presented by 

the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic, 

including mandatory stay-at-home orders, the needs of 

sexual assault victims have become even more complex 

and challenging; 

Whereas, according to a March 2020 survey by the National 

Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 62 percent of rape crisis 

centers have a waiting list for counseling services, 35 percent lack a therapist on staff, and 40 percent of programs have an increased demand for services since the 

beginning of the COVID–19 pandemic; 

Whereas the American Journal of Emergency Medicine reported a 10 to 30 percent increase in reports of family 

violence since the beginning of the COVID–19 pandemic; 

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 acquaintance, stranger, spousal, and gang rape, incest, 

child sexual abuse, elder sexual abuse, sexual abuse and 

exploitation of disabled persons and members of the 


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LGBTQ community, commercial sex trafficking, sexual 

harassment, and stalking; 

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 a 2010 CDC survey, approximately 1 

in 8 lesbian women (13 percent or 214,000), nearly half 

of all bisexual women (46 percent or 1,500,000), and 1 

in 6 heterosexual women (17 percent or 19,000,000) have 

been raped in their lifetime; 

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 the National Crime Victimization Survey, an average of only 34 percent of rapes or sexual assaults in the United States were reported to law enforcement agencies; 

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; 


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Whereas incarceration of sexual assault perpetrators can prevent perpetrators from committing additional crimes; 

Whereas national, State, territorial, and Tribal coalitions, 

community-based rape crisis centers, 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 important partnerships have been formed among 

criminal and juvenile justice agencies, health professionals, public health workers, educators, first responders, and victim service providers; 

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

across the United States; 

Whereas the victim service programs of RAINN, including 

the National Sexual Assault Hotline, helped a total of 


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60,437 victims receive help in May and June of 2020, up 

18 percent from the same time period in 2019; 

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 2021 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— 

6 (i) educate the people of the United 

7 States about sexual violence; and 

8 (ii) 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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