HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	53
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Recognizing April as Sexual assault awareness and prevention month.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, sexual assault affects women, men, and children of all racial, social, religious, age, ethnic, and economic groups in the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, on average, one person is sexually assaulted in the United States every two and a half minutes; and

 

     WHEREAS, one in six women and one in thirty-three men in the United States have been the victim of rape or attempted rape; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Defense received 3,230 reports of sexual assault involving members of the Armed Forces in fiscal year 2009, representing an eleven per cent increase from 2008; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is estimated that nearly sixty-seven thousand adult women in Hawaii have been the victim of forcible rape sometime in their lifetime; and

 

     WHEREAS, only forty-one per cent of sexual assault victims pursue prosecution by reporting their attacks to law enforcement agencies; and

 

     WHEREAS, sexual assault survivors suffer emotional scars long after the physical scars have healed; and

 

     WHEREAS, sexual assault prevention education programs carried out by rape crisis and women's health centers have the potential to reduce the prevalence of sexual assault; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that April is recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month in Hawaii; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the month of April be used to provide a special opportunity to educate the people of Hawaii about sexual violence and to encourage the prevention of sexual assault, the improved treatment of its survivors, and the prosecution of its perpetrators; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that community organizations and private sector supporters should be recognized and applauded for their work in promoting awareness about sexual assault, and providing information and treatment to its survivors; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature encourages community organizations, businesses in the private sector, colleges and universities, and the media to promote, through Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, awareness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the incidence of sexual assault; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services and the Administrative Manager of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who in turn is requested to transmit copies to its member organizations.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month