BILL NUMBER: ACR 11 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
ADOPTED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beall
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Ma)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members De Leon, DeSaulnier, Eng, Hayashi,
Huffman, Laird, Lieu, Ruskin, Salas, Spitzer, Wolk, Adams,
Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Benoit, Berg, Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, DeVore, Duvall, Dymally, Emmerson, Evans,
Fuentes, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Hancock, Hernandez,
Horton, Jeffries, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Leno,
Levine, Maze, Mendoza, Nakanishi, Nava, Nunez, Parra, Plescia,
Portantino, Price, Sharon Runner, Saldana, Silva, Solorio, Swanson,
Torrico, Tran, and Villines)
(Coauthors: Senators Kuehl, Romero, and Torlakson)
JANUARY 16, 2007
Relative to Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 11, Beall. Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
This measure would proclaim the month of October 2007 as Domestic
Violence Awareness Month.
WHEREAS, Home should be a place of warmth, unconditional love, and
security; however, for many Americans, home is tainted with violence
and fear; and
WHEREAS, Domestic violence is much more than the occasional family
dispute; and
WHEREAS, Domestic violence, also known as intimate partner
violence, is a pattern of assaultive or coercive behaviors that may
include inflicted physical injury, psychological abuse, sexual
assault, progressive social isolation, stalking, deprivation,
intimidation, and threats; these behaviors are perpetrated by someone
who is, was, or wishes to be involved in an intimate or dating
relationship with an adult or adolescent, and are aimed at
establishing control by one partner over another; and
WHEREAS, According to the Surgeon General, United States Public
Health Service, domestic violence is a societal problem of epidemic
proportions; and
WHEREAS, Domestic violence is a serious criminal justice and
public health problem. In the most recent (July 2000) National
Violence Against Women Survey, 1.5 percent of surveyed women and 0.9
percent of surveyed men said they were physically assaulted or raped
by a partner in the previous 12 months; according to these estimates,
approximately 1.5 million women and 835,000 men are physically
assaulted or raped by an intimate partner annually in the United
States; cumulatively, an estimated 25 percent of women and 8 percent
of men in the United States have been physically or sexually abused
by an intimate partner at some point in their lives; and
WHEREAS, Many victims are victimized more than once and the number
of intimate partner victimizations exceeds the number of intimate
partner victims annually. Thus, approximately 5 million intimate
partner rapes and physical assaults are perpetrated against women in
the United States annually, and approximately 3 million intimate
partner physical assaults are committed against men in the United
States annually; and
WHEREAS, Women are 10 times more likely than men to be victimized
by an intimate partner, and young women, women who are separated,
divorced, or single, low-income women, and African American women are
disproportionately victims of assault and rape. More than 11 percent
of women who lived with a woman as part of a couple reported being
raped, physically assaulted, or stalked by a female cohabitant, and
over 30 percent of the women who married or lived with a man as part
of a couple reported this type of violence by a husband or male
cohabitant; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 15 percent of the men who lived with a man
as a couple reported being raped, physically assaulted, or stalked by
a male cohabitant and 8 percent of the men who married or lived with
a woman as a couple reported this type of violence by a wife or
female cohabitant; and
WHEREAS, Most intimate partner victimizations are not reported to
the police, so that approximately only one-fifth of all rapes,
one-quarter of all physical assaults, and one-half of all stalkings
perpetrated against females by intimate partners were reported to the
police, and even fewer rapes, physical assaults, and stalkings
perpetrated against males by intimate partners were reported; and
WHEREAS, Domestic violence has serious health consequences: the
immediate injuries sustained by victims during violent episodes can
be severe and sometimes fatal, while physical and psychological abuse
has been linked to a number of adverse medical health effects;
domestic violence is linked to 8 of 10 of the leading indicators for
Healthy People 2010; the health effects of intimate partner violence
often persist for years after the abuse has ended; and
WHEREAS, The costs of domestic violence are substantial. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 1995
that the total cost of intimate partner violence against adult women
was approximately $5.8 billion; the great majority of these costs,
more than $4 billion, were for health care services; and
WHEREAS, The millions of members of the United States medical
community annually treat millions of intimate partner rapes and
physical assaults. Of the estimated 4.8 million intimate partner
rapes and physical assaults perpetrated against women annually,
approximately 2 million result in an injury to the victim and almost
600,000 result in some type of medical treatment of the victim. Of
the estimated 3 million intimate partner physical assaults
perpetrated against men annually, almost 600,000 result in an injury
to the victim, and almost 125,000 result in some type of medical
treatment of the victim. Many medically treated victims receive
multiple forms of care, including, but not limited to, ambulance
services, emergency room care, or physical therapy, as well as
multiple treatments, including, but not limited to, several days of
hospitalization for the same victimization; and
WHEREAS, Women who are battered have more than twice the health
care needs and costs than those who are never battered. Approximately
17 percent of pregnant women report having been battered, and the
results include miscarriages, stillbirths, and a two to four times
greater likelihood of bearing a low birth weight baby. Abused women
are disproportionately represented among the homeless and suicide
victims. Victims of domestic violence are being denied insurance in
some states because the victims are considered to have a preexisting
condition; and
WHEREAS, The health consequences of intimate partner violence are
not limited to the adult partner being abused; between 3.3 million
and 10 million children witness violence in their homes and studies
have indicated that violent juvenile offenders are four times more
likely to have grown up in homes where they saw violence, and
children who have witnessed violence at home are also five times more
likely to commit or suffer violence when they become adults; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of Labor, one
million people are assaulted and injured every year as a result of
workplace violence, one thousand people are killed every year due to
workplace violence, 30 percent of battered women lose their jobs due
to harassment at work by abusive husbands and boyfriends, domestic
violence rates are five times higher among families below poverty
levels, and severe spousal abuse is twice as likely to be committed
by unemployed men as by those working full time; and
WHEREAS, Intimate partner violence, regardless of gender, affects
families across America in all socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic
groups; and
WHEREAS, Identifying and responding to abuse can make a
difference. Models developed to identify other chronic health
problems can effectively be applied to intimate partner violence;
routine inquiry of all patients by skilled health care professionals
increases opportunities for both identification and effective
interventions, validates intimate partner violence as a serious
public health issue, and enables providers to assist both victims and
their children; and
WHEREAS, More than one-half of the number of women in need of
shelter from an abusive environment may be turned away from a shelter
due to lack of space; and
WHEREAS, Women are not the only targets of domestic violence:
young children, elderly persons, men, and those with disabilities are
also victims in their own homes; and
WHEREAS, Emotional, physical, and psychological scars are often
permanent; and
WHEREAS, A coalition of organizations has emerged to confront this
crisis directly. Law enforcement agencies, domestic violence
hotlines, battered women and childrens' shelters, health care
providers, community centers, community-based organizations,
faith-based organizations, the courts, and the volunteers that serve
those entities are helping in the effort to end domestic violence;
and
WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the compassion and
dedication of the individuals involved in that effort, applaud their
commitment, and increase public understanding of this significant
problem; and
WHEREAS, The first Day of Unity was celebrated in October 1981 and
was sponsored by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
for the purpose of uniting battered women's advocates across the
nation in an effort to end domestic violence; and
WHEREAS, That one day has grown into a month of activities at all
levels of government, aimed at creating awareness about the problem
and presenting solutions; and
WHEREAS, The first Domestic Violence Awareness Month was
proclaimed in October 1987; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims the month
of October 2007 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit a copy of
this resolution to the President of the United States, the Governor
of the State of California, the Director of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.