III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 149 

Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual Assault Awareness 

Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2011 

Mr. CASEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of Sexual 

Assault Awareness Month. 

Whereas on average, a person is sexually assaulted in the 

United States every 21⁄2 minutes; 

Whereas the Department of Justice reports that more than 

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

Whereas 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have been victims 

of rape or attempted rape; 

Whereas the Department of Defense received 2,908 reports 

of sexual assault involving members of the Armed Forces 

in fiscal year 2008, representing an 8 percent increase 

from fiscal year 2007; 


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•SRES 149 IS 

Whereas children and young adults are most at risk of sexual 

assault, as 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under 

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, children, and men 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 2⁄3 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 149 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 in 2011, the Department of Defense and the Rape, 

Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) launched the 

DoD Safe Helpline, which provides live, one-on-one help 

to members of the United States Armed Forces who have 

been sexually assaulted; 

Whereas the DoD Safe Helpline provides live help to active 

duty personnel 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, according to a 2010 survey of rape crisis centers 

by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 72 percent of programs have experienced a reduction in funding 


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•SRES 149 IS 

over 2009 levels, 56 percent have experienced a reduction 

in staffing, 23 percent have a waiting list for services, 

and funding and staffing cuts have resulted in an overall 

50 percent reduction in the provision of institutional advocacy services; 

Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect the dream of 

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

forms of sexual violence and no sexual assault victim goes 

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 surVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:14 Apr 15, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR149.IS SR149

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•SRES 149 IS 

1 vivors, volunteers, and professionals who com2 bat sexual assault; 

3 (C) national and community organizations 

4 and private sector supporters should be recog5 nized and applauded for their work in pro6 moting awareness about sexual assault, pro7 viding information and treatment to survivors 

8 of sexual assault, and increasing the number of 

9 successful prosecutions of perpetrators of sexual 

10 assault; and 

11 (D) public safety, law enforcement, and 

12 health professionals should be recognized and 

13 applauded for their hard work and innovative 

14 strategies to increase the percentage of sexual 

15 assault cases that result in the prosecution and 

16 incarceration of the offenders; 

17 (2) the Senate strongly recommends that na18 tional and community organizations, businesses in 

19 the private sector, institutions of higher education, 

20 and the media promote, through National Sexual 

21 Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, aware22 ness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the 

23 incidence of sexual assault; and 


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

2 National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 

3 Month. 

Æ 


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