BILL NUMBER: ACR 129	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  47
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MAY 30, 2014
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  MAY 23, 2014
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Brown
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Lowenthal)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove,
Melendez, Quirk-Silva, Salas, Skinner, Waldron, Weber, Yamada,
Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez,
Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly,
Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Wieckowski, Wilk, and Williams)
   (Coauthors: Senators Hill, Lieu, Pavley, and Vidak)

                        APRIL 1, 2014

   Relative to sexual assault.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 129, Brown. Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Denim Day
California.
   This measure would designate the month of April 2014 as Sexual
Assault Awareness Month, and would recognize April 23, 2014, as Denim
Day California.



   WHEREAS, In 2012, California rape crisis centers provided direct
crisis intervention services to 29,208 individuals, provided 6,283
sexual assault forensic examinations, and provided community
education services for almost 129,000 people; and
   WHEREAS, Women, children, and men are all victims of sexual
assault, and it is estimated that nearly one in two women and one in
five men experience sexual violence other than rape throughout their
lifetime; and
   WHEREAS, The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey
reports that there are over 22 million survivors of rape throughout
the United States and two million of those survivors of rape are
currently living in the State of California; and
   WHEREAS, Rape and sexual assault impact women, children, and men
of all racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds; and
   WHEREAS, Women, children, and men suffer multiple types of sexual
violence, including acquaintance rape, stranger rape, sexual assault
by an intimate partner, gang rape, incest, serial rape, ritual abuse,
sexual harassment, child sexual molestation, prostitution,
pornography, and stalking; and
   WHEREAS, In addition to the immediate physical and emotional
costs, sexual assault may also have severe and long-lasting
consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse,
major depression, homelessness, eating disorders, and suicide; and
   WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
have identified sexual assault as a significant, costly, and
preventable health issue; and
   WHEREAS, A coalition of rape crisis centers and their allies,
known as the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, has emerged
to directly confront this crisis with the cooperation of law
enforcement agencies, churches, health care providers, and other
helping professionals from California's diverse communities; and
   WHEREAS, It is our responsibility to support all rape survivors by
treating them with dignity, compassion, and respect; and
   WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the compassion and
dedication of the individuals involved in this effort, applaud their
commitment, and increase public understanding of this significant
problem; and
   WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the strength, courage, and
challenges of the victims and survivors of sexual assault and their
families and friends as they struggle to cope with the reality of
sexual assault; and
   WHEREAS, It is important to recognize that not all victims of
sexual assault survive, either at the time of the assault or later,
due to the horrific long-term trauma that sexual assault often
inflicts upon victims; and
   WHEREAS, There are rape prevention and education efforts underway
throughout California to challenge the societal myths and behaviors
that perpetuate rape and to engage communities in a common goal of
ending sexual assault; and
   WHEREAS, It is crucially important to hold perpetrators
responsible for sexual attacks, and to prevent sexual violence at
every opportunity; and
   WHEREAS, In 1998, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the
conviction of a man who sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman after
the court determined that, "because the victim wore very, very tight
jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it
was no longer rape but consensual sex"; and
   WHEREAS, Enraged by the court decision, within a matter of hours,
the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate action
and protested by wearing jeans to work; and
   WHEREAS, Nations and states throughout the world have followed the
lead of the Italian Parliament by designating their own "Denim Day"
to raise public awareness about rape and sexual assault; and
   WHEREAS, Harmful attitudes about rape and sexual assault allow
these crimes to persist and allow survivors to be revictimized
through victim-blaming attitudes and unresponsive government systems;
and
   WHEREAS, California is a national leader within the judicial,
criminal justice, medical, rape crisis, and health communities in
promoting victim-centered approaches to victims of crime; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature designates the month of
April 2014 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes April 23, 2014, as Denim
Day California and encourages everyone to wear jeans on that day to
help communicate the message that there is no excuse for, and never
an invitation to commit, rape; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.