On June 10, the House approved, by voice vote, a resolution (S. J. Res. 8) in recognition of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month and expressing support for raising awareness and encouraging the prevention of sexual assault in the United States. In April, the Senate passed the resolution by unanimous consent.
Sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Joe Biden (D-DE), the resolution notes that more than 20 million individuals have survived sexual assault and that survivors, volunteers, and professionals who work to combat sexual assault should be saluted for their work. Although the rate of sexual assaults has decreased in the last ten years, according to the resolution, an individual is sexually assaulted in the United States every two minutes.
Additionally, the resolution calls on “national and community organizations, businesses in the private sector, and the media to promote, through National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, awareness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the incidence of sexual assault.
Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) stated that “by raising the profile, hopefully these numbers will fall and we will have fewer victims, we will have more convictions, and we will have greater awareness of this awful battle we must fight.”
Agreeing with Rep. Green, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) added that “violence against women is not just a woman’s issue, it is a man’s issue, a family’s issue, and an issue that is important to society at large.”
