HR1177 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1177 LRB095 20754 GRL 49273 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Sexual assault is an ongoing problem that is being fought against vigorously by local, State, national, and international groups; and

WHEREAS, Sexual violence refers to unwanted or coercive sexual behavior from sexual bullying to rape; the terms rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse are often used interchangeably and refer to coercive, forced sexual contact; women and men of all ages, as well as children, can be victimized by sexual assault; the physical and psychological effects caused by such violence might take years to recover from; and

WHEREAS, On the national level, sexual violence is a prolific and frightening occurrence; nationally, almost 18%, or 17.7 million women, in the United States have been victims of rape or attempted rape sometime in their lives; one in every three girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18; 1.3 women age 18 and over in the United States are forcibly raped each minute, equal to 78 per hour, 1,871 per day, or 683,000 per year; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois must contend with the same problem within its borders; one out of every seven adult women, or more than 670,000 adult women in Illinois, has been the victim of forcible rape sometime in her lifetime; and

WHEREAS, One of the most frightening statistics regarding sexual violence is that 59 percent of sexual assaults nationwide are not reported to law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, Increased awareness regarding the widespread instances of sexual violence and the ways to prevent future occurrences is an essential factor in the fight against sexual violence in our society; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the month of April 2008 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the State of Illinois in recognition of this ongoing threat to our society.