SENATE RESOLUTION 17

(By Senators Ihlenfeld, Sypolt, Woelfel, Palumbo, Plymale, Beach, Stollings, Hamilton, Unger, Takubo, Boso, Jeffries, Lindsay, Cline, Swope, Baldwin, and Rucker)

[Introduced January 23, 2019]

Designating January 23, 2019, as Sexual and Domestic Violence Awareness Day at the Legislature.

Whereas, All people have a right to be safe in their home, school, workplace, college campus, and community; and

Whereas, On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men; and

Whereas, One in six women and one in 22 men in West Virginia will be victims of an attempted or completed forcible rape; and

Whereas, During the fiscal year 2016-2017, 14,175 individuals were served by one or more of the 14 licensed domestic violence programs in West Virginia, six of which also provide rape crisis services; and

Whereas, In West Virginia, 4,445 children were served at a child advocacy center as a new client last year, representing one in every 100 children in our state, and a 69 percent increase over the last five years; and

Whereas, Last year, 10 rape crisis centers provided 24/7 crisis intervention services in 45 counties and provided 1,097 prevention programs to over 20,000 students and residents; and

 Whereas, The incarceration of sexual and domestic violence offenders in our state correctional facilities costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars each year; and

Whereas, The lifetime economic burden of intimate partner violence among adults in the United States is $103,767 of lifetime cost per female victim and $23,414 of lifetime cost per male victim; and

Whereas, Domestic violence, sexual violence, and child abuse can be deterred, prevented, and reduced through a large network of private, public, and nonprofit entities working together as coalitions providing social, legal, medical, educational, and protective services for victims; and

Whereas, The West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services have each been working for 37 years, individually and collaboratively, to provide safe spaces, quality services, and systemic change. The West Virginia Child Advocacy Network has been working 10 years to give individuals, children, and families options for building lives free from violence; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate:

That the Senate hereby designates January 23, 2019, as Sexual and Domestic Violence Awareness Day at the Legislature; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence.