California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 129

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, and Yamada)

(Coauthors: Senators Hill, Lieu, Pavley, and Vidak)

April 1, 2014

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 129—Relative to sexual assault.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 129, as introduced, 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.

Fiscal committee: no.

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.