SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 13
(By Senators Kessler, Barnes, Jenkins, White, D. Facemire,
Palumbo, McCabe, Plymale, Wells, Prezioso, Unger, Stollings,
Laird, Edgell, Foster, Bowman, Yost and Minard)
Declaring February 3, 2010 to be Domestic and Sexual Violence
Prevention Day in West Virginia.
Whereas, All people have a right to be safe in their homes,
workplace, college campus and community; and
Whereas, During the fiscal year 2008-2009, over fifteen
thousand individuals were served by one or more of the fourteen
licensed domestic violence programs in West Virginia, six of which
also provide rape crisis services; and
Whereas, Domestic and sexual violence erode the infrastructure
of our families, our social makeup and our culture, and threaten
the integrity of our future; and
Whereas, Stalking is often a factor in domestic and sexual
violence and a serious offense in its own right; and
Whereas, Women compromise fifty-one percent of our state's
population but account for over seventy-five percent of all
domestic violence victims; and
Whereas, In 2008, domestic and sexual violence were major law
enforcement problems within West Virginia, and over thirteen
thousand
domestic violence offenses were committed requiring one
hundred seventy-eight thousand six hundred fifty-six hours spent by law enforcement investigating incidents of domestic violence;
Whereas, In 2008, twenty-nine homicides in our state were the
result of domestic violence; and
Whereas, Women are three times more likely than males to be
murdered by an intimate partner; and
Whereas, Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as
likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become
adults; and
Whereas, One in six women and one in twenty-one men will be
victims of rape or attempted rape in West Virginia; and
Whereas, Children are at increased risk to be sexually
victimized with sixty percent of female and seventy percent of male
rape victims having been first raped before age eighteen; and
Whereas, Domestic and sexual violence can be deterred,
prevented and reduced through a large network of private, public
and nonprofit entities working together to form a coalition
providing social, legal, medical, educational and protective
services for victims of domestic and sexual violence; and
Whereas, The West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and
Services has been serving sexual assault victims for twenty-eight
years with a mission to promote the compassionate and just
treatment of survivors and create attitudinal and behavioral
changes around sexual violence and stalking; and
Whereas, The West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence
has been working for thirty years to provide safe space, quality services and systemic change to give families options for building
lives free from violence; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate:
That the Senate declares February 3, 2010 to be Domestic
and Sexual Violence Prevention Day in West Virginia and commits
itself to treating this problem with the seriousness that it
deserves and working to achieve solutions that deter, prevent,
and reduce domestic and sexual violence.