Senate Concurrent ResolutionNo. 123


Introduced by Senator Jackson

(Coauthors: Senators Allen, Block, Cannella, Fuller, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hertzberg, Hill, Leno, Leyva, Monning, Pavley, and Wieckowski)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Baker, Brown, Chang, Chávez, Dodd, Cristina Garcia, Gonzalez, Gordon, Hadley, Kim, Lackey, Lopez, Low, Mathis, Olsen, Rodriguez, and Salas)

March 30, 2016


Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 123—Relative to sexual assault.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 123, as introduced, Jackson. Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Denim Day California.

This measure would designate the month of April 2016 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and would recognize April 27, 2016, as Denim Day California.

Fiscal committee: no.

P1    1WHEREAS, In 2014, California rape crisis centers provided
2direct crisis intervention services to 31,781 individuals, provided
37,389 sexual assault forensic examinations, and provided
4community education services for almost 20,000 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
P2    1throughout the United States and 2 million of those survivors of
2rape are currently living in the State of California; and

3WHEREAS, Rape and sexual assault impact women, children,
4and men of all racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds; and

5WHEREAS, Women, children, and men suffer multiple types
6of sexual violence, including acquaintance rape, stranger rape,
7sexual assault by an intimate partner, gang rape, incest, serial rape,
8ritual abuse, sexual harassment, child sexual molestation,
9prostitution, pornography, and stalking; and

10WHEREAS, Thousands of the most vulnerable children in our
11state are being sexually exploited and assaulted for commercial
12gain, and from 2011 to 2013, California’s nine human trafficking
13task forces identified 1,277 victims, 72 percent of whom are from
14the United States; and

15WHEREAS, According to the FBI, three of the nation’s 13 High
16Intensity Child Prostitution areas are located in California; and

17WHEREAS, In addition to the immediate physical and emotional
18costs, sexual assault may also have severe and long-lasting
19consequences of posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse,
20major depression, homelessness, eating disorders, and suicide; and

21WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and
22Prevention has identified sexual assault as a significant, costly,
23and preventable health issue; and

24WHEREAS, A coalition of rape crisis centers and their allies,
25known as the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, has
26emerged to directly confront this crisis with the cooperation of law
27enforcement agencies, health care providers, institutions of higher
28education, and other allied professionals from California’s diverse
29communities; and

30WHEREAS, It is our responsibility to support all rape survivors
31by treating them with dignity, compassion, and respect; and

32WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the compassion and
33dedication of the individuals involved in this effort, applaud their
34commitment, and increase public understanding of this significant
35problem; and

36WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the strength, courage,
37and challenges of the victims and survivors of sexual assault and
38their families and friends as they struggle to cope with the reality
39of sexual assault; and

P3    1WHEREAS, It is important to recognize that not all victims of
2sexual assault survive, either at the time of the assault or later, due
3to the horrific long-term trauma that sexual assault often inflicts
4upon victims; and

5WHEREAS, There are rape prevention and education efforts
6underway throughout California to challenge the societal myths
7and behaviors that perpetuate rape and to engage communities in
8a common goal of ending sexual assault; and

9WHEREAS, It is crucially important to hold perpetrators
10responsible for sexual attacks, and to prevent sexual violence at
11every opportunity; and

12WHEREAS, In 1998, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the
13conviction of a man who sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman
14after the court determined that, “because the victim wore very,
15very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing
16the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex”; and

17WHEREAS, Enraged by the court decision, within a matter of
18hours, the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate
19action and protested by wearing jeans to work; and

20WHEREAS, Nations and states throughout the world have
21followed the lead of the Italian Parliament by designating their
22own “Denim Day” to raise public awareness about rape and sexual
23assault; and

24WHEREAS, Harmful attitudes about rape and sexual assault
25allow these crimes to persist and allow survivors to be revictimized
26through victim-blaming attitudes and unresponsive government
27systems; and

28WHEREAS, California is a national leader within the judicial,
29criminal justice, medical, rape crisis, and health communities in
30promoting victim-centered approaches to victims of crime; now,
31therefore, be it

32Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
33thereof concurring,
That the Legislature designates the month of
34April 2016 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and be it further

35Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes April 27, 2016, as
36Denim Day California and encourages everyone to wear jeans on
37that day to help communicate the message that there is no excuse
38for and never an invitation to commit, rape; and be it further

P4    1Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
2this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.



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