Senate Concurrent ResolutionNo. 43


Introduced by Senator Galgiani

(Principal coauthor: Senator Block)

(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Hall, Hertzberg, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Monning, Pavley, and Vidak)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Travis Allen, Atkins, Chu, Cooper, Dodd, Cristina Garcia, Kim, Lackey, Low, and Olsen)

April 20, 2015


Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 43—Relative to sexual assault.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 43, as introduced, Galgiani. Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Denim Day California.

This measure would designate the month of April 2015 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and would recognize April 29, 2015, as Denim Day California.

Fiscal committee: no.

P1    1WHEREAS, In 2012, California rape crisis centers provided
2direct crisis intervention services to 30,490 individuals, provided
36,782 sexual assault forensic examinations, and provided
4community education services for almost 133,000 people; and

5WHEREAS, Women, children, and men are all victims of sexual
6assault, and it is estimated that nearly one in two women and one
7in five men experience sexual violence other than rape throughout
8their lifetime; and

9WHEREAS, The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence
10Survey reports that there are over 22 million survivors of rape
11throughout the United States and two million of those survivors
12of rape are currently living in the State of California; and

P2    1WHEREAS, Rape and sexual assault impact women, children,
2and men of all racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds; and

3WHEREAS, Women, children, and men suffer multiple types
4of sexual violence, including acquaintance rape, stranger rape,
5sexual assault by an intimate partner, gang rape, incest, serial rape,
6ritual abuse, sexual harassment, child sexual molestation,
7prostitution, pornography, and stalking; and

8WHEREAS, In addition to the immediate physical and emotional
9costs, sexual assault may also have severe and long-lasting
10consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse,
11major depression, homelessness, eating disorders, and suicide; and

12WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and
13Prevention have identified sexual assault as a significant, costly,
14and preventable health issue; and

15WHEREAS, A coalition of rape crisis centers and their allies,
16known as the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, has
17emerged to directly confront this crisis with the cooperation of law
18enforcement agencies, churches, health care providers, and other
19helping professionals from California’s diverse communities; and

20WHEREAS, It is our responsibility to support all rape survivors
21by treating them with dignity, compassion, and respect; and

22WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the compassion and
23dedication of the individuals involved in this effort, applaud their
24commitment, and increase public understanding of this significant
25problem; and

26WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the strength, courage,
27and challenges of the victims and survivors of sexual assault and
28their families and friends as they struggle to cope with the reality
29of sexual assault; and

30WHEREAS, It is important to recognize that not all victims of
31sexual assault survive, either at the time of the assault or later, due
32to the horrific long-term trauma that sexual assault often inflicts
33upon victims; and

34WHEREAS, There are rape prevention and education efforts
35underway throughout California to challenge the societal myths
36and behaviors that perpetuate rape and to engage communities in
37a common goal of ending sexual assault; and

38WHEREAS, It is crucially important to hold perpetrators
39responsible for sexual attacks, and to prevent sexual violence at
40every opportunity; and

P3    1WHEREAS, In 1998, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the
2conviction of a man who sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman
3after the court determined that, “because the victim wore very,
4very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing
5the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex”; and

6WHEREAS, Enraged by the court decision, within a matter of
7hours, the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate
8action and protested by wearing jeans to work; and

9WHEREAS, Nations and states throughout the world have
10followed the lead of the Italian Parliament by designating their
11own “Denim Day” to raise public awareness about rape and sexual
12assault; and

13WHEREAS, Harmful attitudes about rape and sexual assault
14allow these crimes to persist and allow survivors to be revictimized
15through victim-blaming attitudes and unresponsive government
16systems; and

17WHEREAS, California is a national leader within the judicial,
18criminal justice, medical, rape crisis, and health communities in
19promoting victim-centered approaches to victims of crime; now,
20therefore, be it

21Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
22thereof concurring,
That the Legislature designates the month of
23April 2015 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and be it further

24Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes April 29, 2015, as
25Denim Day California and encourages everyone to wear jeans on
26that day to help communicate the message that there is no excuse
27for, and never an invitation to commit, rape; and be it further

28Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
29this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.



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