Assembly Resolution No. 2143

BY: M. of A. Rules (McMahon)

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        May 14, 2024, as  Domestic  Violence  Awareness  and
        Prevention Day in the State of New York

  WHEREAS,  Domestic  violence  is  a pattern of coercive behavior and
tactics used by someone against their intimate partner in an attempt  to
gain  or  maintain  power  and  control,  and types of abuse can include
physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, technological  and  economic
abuse  or threats of actions or other patterns of coercive behavior that
influence another person within an intimate partner relationship; and

  WHEREAS, Domestic violence is not limited to specific  groups  based
on race, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation,
ethnicity, age, religious affiliation, or social location, but rather is
perpetrated by abusers from all social groups; and

  WHEREAS,  On  average,  nearly  20  people per minute are physically
abused by an intimate partner in the  United  States  --  more  than  10
million people over the course of a year; and

  WHEREAS,  On  average,  one  in  three  women  and  one  in four men
experience some form of domestic violence or interpersonal  violence  in
their  lifetime,  and  nearly  one  in  five women have been raped by an
intimate partner; and

  WHEREAS,  Due  to  systemic  racism,  racist  policies,  and  racist
societal  structures, both Black women and Black men experience intimate
partner violence at a disproportionately high rate with 45.1 percent  of
Black  women and 40.1 percent of Black men experiencing intimate partner
physical violence, intimate  partner  sexual  violence  and/or  intimate
partner stalking in their lifetimes; and

  WHEREAS,  Domestic  violence  affects the LGBTQ+ community at a rate
equal to or  even  greater  than  that  experienced  by  the  cisgender,
heterosexual  community,  with  43.8  percent  of  lesbian  women and 26
percent of gay men experiencing rape, physical violence and/or  stalking
by  an  intimate partner at some point in their lifetime, and 54 percent
of the transgender and gender  non-conforming  community  have  reported
experiencing  some  form  of intimate partner violence, with transgender
women of color experiencing heightened levels of violence; and

  WHEREAS, According  to  a  study  from  the  National  Institute  of
Justice,  more than half of Native American and Alaska Native women have
experienced physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner; and

  WHEREAS, Nearly 20.9 percent of female high school students and 13.4
percent of male high school students report being physically or sexually
abused by a dating partner, and  43  percent  of  dating  college  women
report experiencing violent or abusive behaviors from their partner; and

  WHEREAS,  Researchers estimate that one in 15 children in the United
States are exposed to intimate partner violence and children who witness
intimate  partner  violence  growing  up  are  at  increased  risk   for

delinquency,  greater  mental  health  problems  and  the  potential for
intergenerational violence in dating and intimate partner relationships;
and

  WHEREAS,  Domestic  violence survivors experience a host of physical
and mental health-related consequences at far greater rates  than  their
counterparts who have not been abused; and

  WHEREAS,  According  to  an  annual survey conducted by the National
Network to End Domestic Violence, New York State  consistently  has  the
greatest  demand  for  domestic  violence  services  in the country with
10,456 survivors requesting services on just one day in 2023, and  1,045
unfulfilled  service  requests  on that same day because of insufficient
resources or staff; and

  WHEREAS, In 2022, there were 212,320  orders  of  protection  issued
that required entry in the New York State Registry, a 9 percent increase
from 2021, and a 28 percent increase from 2020; and

  WHEREAS,  The  NYS  Office  of Children and Family Services reported
that more than 53,000 survivors of domestic violence and their  children
received services from New York residential and non-residential domestic
violence  service  providers,  and  more than 288,000 hotline calls were
received across the State in 2022; and

  WHEREAS, According to the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services,
there were 61 intimate partner homicides in New York State in 2022; and

  WHEREAS, The cost of  a  single  homicide  is  estimated  at  $17.25
million  when  considering  medical  care,  lost  future earnings, other
related public programming and services, and property damage  and  other
losses; and

  WHEREAS,  The  economic  burden  of  domestic violence in the United
States is staggering, with costs to the U.S. economy estimated to exceed
$8.3 billion annually, with 21-60 percent of victims of intimate partner
violence losing their jobs due to reasons stemming from the abuse; and

  WHEREAS, Primary prevention strategies address the root  causes  and
conditions  that  make  domestic  violence  possible,  and public health
research has shown that implementing prevention activities  at  multiple
levels   on   the  social  ecology  scale  -  individual,  relationship,
community, and societal - will lead to lasting social change; and

  WHEREAS,  Primary  prevention  is  focused  on  establishing  gender
equality, cultivating, and promoting healthy relationship behaviors, and
changing conditions in communities and culture to stop domestic violence
before it starts; and

  WHEREAS,    Domestic   violence   advocates   consistently   provide
comprehensive and  compassionate  life-saving  services,  advocacy,  and
support  to  survivors  of  domestic  violence and their children, while
leading essential primary prevention efforts within their communities to
motivate the change needed to stop domestic violence from  happening  in
the first place; and

  WHEREAS,  As  part  of  executing  its  mission,  the New York State
Coalition Against Domestic Violence seeks  to  create  and  support  the

social  change  necessary  to prevent and confront all forms of domestic
violence, to ensure the availability and accessibility of innovative and
effective supports and services for all domestic violence survivors  and
their  families,  and  to  dismantle oppression, end systemic racism and
uproot the inequities that foster violence; and

  WHEREAS, New York  State  needs  to  continually  and  significantly
invest  in  services  and  supports  for domestic violence survivors and
their families in order to meet the rising demand for assistance and  to
continue  progress toward ending domestic violence once and for all; now
therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize  Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim May 14, 2024, as Domestic
Violence Awareness and Prevention Day in the State of New York;  and  be
it further

  RESOLVED,  That  copies  of  this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of  New
York; and the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.