[Pages S2293-S2294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 560--RECOGNIZING AND SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS
OF NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH
Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Ernst, Mrs.
Murray, and Mr. Grassley) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:
S. Res. 560
Whereas the Senate is committed to the awareness,
prevention, and deterrence of sexual violence affecting
individuals in the United States;
Whereas, according to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, between 2008 and 2018, approximately--
(1) 3,434,326 women were victims of rape and sexual
assault; and
(2) 523,895 men were victims of rape and sexual assault;
Whereas, due to the unprecedented challenges presented by
the 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 of more than 600 rape crisis
programs, 89 percent of those programs need emergency
stimulus funding to respond to requests from survivors for
support and emergency assistance;
Whereas, according to the March 2020 survey, since the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 40 percent of the programs
surveyed have experienced an increased demand for services
both in terms of new requests and more dire and complicated
requests from existing clients, including requests relating
to technology needs for virtual services and emergency needs
of vulnerable survivors;
Whereas, during the pandemic, many rape crisis centers have
had to cancel signature fundraisers and have experienced
overall decreases in private donations;
Whereas, according to the 2018 Child Maltreatment Report of
the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2018, child
protective services agencies substantiated or found strong
evidence to indicate that 47,124 children under 18 years of
age were victims of sexual abuse;
Whereas, according to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, between 2014 and 2018, an average of only 29 percent
of rapes or sexual assaults in the United States were
reported to law enforcement agencies;
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 Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, more than \1/2\ of all female rape victims
reported being raped by an intimate partner;
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 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, commercial sex trafficking,
sexual harassment, and stalking;
Whereas, according to the National Alliance to End Sexual
Violence, in addition to immediate physical and emotional
costs, sexual assault can have numerous adverse consequences
for the victim, which may include post-traumatic stress
disorder, substance abuse, major depression, homelessness,
eating disorders, and suicide;
Whereas, according to a 2019 survey of rape crisis centers
by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, \1/2\ of
such centers have a waiting list, in some cases months long,
for counseling services, 44 percent lack a therapist on
staff, and 84 percent have experienced an increased demand
for services;
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;
Whereas national, State, territorial, and Tribal
coalitions, community-based rape crisis centers, and other
organizations across the United States are committed to--
(1) increasing public awareness of sexual violence and the
prevalence of sexual violence; and
(2) 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 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 National Sexual Assault Hotline--
(A) by telephone at 800-656-HOPE; and
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(B) online at https://hotline.rainn.org; and
(2) more than 1,000 sexual assault service providers across
the United States;
Whereas the victim service programs of the Rape, Abuse &
Incest National Network (commonly known as ``RAINN''),
including the National Sexual Assault Hotline--
(1) in 2019, helped 304,275 survivors of sexual assault and
their loved ones, which represented the greatest number of
people assisted since the founding of the hotline in 1994;
and
(2) continue to receive a record number of requests for
support in 2020;
Whereas the Department of Defense provides the Safe
Helpline hotline, Safe HelpRoom online chat service, and Safe
Helpline mobile application, each of which offer 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 2020 is recognized as ``National Sexual
Assault Awareness and Prevention Month'': Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That--
(1) it is the sense of the Senate that--
(A) National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
provides a special opportunity to--
(i) educate the people of the United States about sexual
violence; and
(ii) encourage--
(I) the prevention of sexual assault;
(II) improvement in the treatment of survivors of sexual
assault; and
(III) the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual assault;
(B) it is appropriate to properly acknowledge survivors of
sexual assault and to commend the volunteers and
professionals who assist those survivors in their efforts to
heal;
(C) national and community organizations and private sector
supporters should be recognized and applauded for their work
in--
(i) promoting awareness about sexual assault;
(ii) providing information and treatment to survivors of
sexual assault; and
(iii) increasing the number of successful prosecutions of
perpetrators of sexual assault; and
(D) public safety, law enforcement, and health
professionals should be recognized and applauded for their
hard work and innovative strategies to ensure perpetrators of
sexual assault are held accountable; and
(2) the Senate supports the goals and ideals of National
Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
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