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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Communities across the state and around the country |
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are observing April 2019 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and |
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WHEREAS, Established in 2001 by the National Sexual Violence |
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Resource Center, the event was officially recognized by President |
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Barack Obama eight years later to remind Americans of the shocking |
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prevalence of this crime; and |
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WHEREAS, In the U.S., one in three women and one in six men |
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experience some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime, |
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and 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men are raped; rape is the most |
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underreported crime, and over 60 percent of sexual assaults are not |
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reported to the police; similarly, a quarter of all girls and a |
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sixth of all boys are sexually abused before the age of 18, but only |
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12 percent of child sexual abuse is ever disclosed to the |
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authorities; and |
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WHEREAS, Annually, crimes of sexual violence cost the |
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U.S. billions of dollars, and health care costs are shown to be 16 |
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percent higher for women who were sexually abused as children and 36 |
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percent higher for women who suffered both physical and sexual |
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abuse in childhood; and |
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WHEREAS, Vigilance against sexual assault is crucial to the |
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safety and well-being of Texans, and this observance provides an |
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opportunity to learn more about prevention while saluting those who |
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work every day to eliminate this crime; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize April 2019 as Sexual Assault Awareness |
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Month in Texas. |