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Councilmember Brooke Pinto Councilmember Charles Allen 2
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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION 6
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 11
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To declare the month of April 2023 as “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” in the District of 16
Columbia, and to urge residents to show their support for victim-survivors and work to 17
prevent sexual assault, abuse, harassment, online harassment, and sex trafficking. 18
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WHEREAS, in 1978, the first “Take Back the Night” events in the United States were held 20
in San Francisco and New York City; 21
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WHEREAS, the movement that developed in the United States was created in the wake of 23
the civil rights movement, and was buoyed by Black women’s activism to disrupt the persistent 24
and systemic sexual violence they experienced; 25
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WHEREAS, the month of April has been designated as Sexual Assault Awareness Month 27
in the United States and was first observed nationally in April 2001, after the alarming statistics of 28
sexual assault and underreporting became more apparent; 29
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WHEREAS, sexual assault awareness includes prevention and advocacy efforts to address 31
various forms of sexual violence, including child sexual abuse, sexual harassment, online sexual 32
harassment, sex trafficking, and rape; 33
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WHEREAS, sexual assault awareness activities have expanded to include the issues of 35
sexual violence against men and men’s participation in ending sexual violence; 36
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WHEREAS, sexual violence exists on a spectrum of behaviors, ranging from verbal 38
harassment to online harassment to sexual assault, and it is imperative to recognize that sexual 39
harassment in the workplace is a pervasive, yet often overlooked, manifestation of sexual violence; 40
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WHEREAS, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, every 68 seconds, 42
someone in the United States is sexually assaulted; 43
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WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one in 45
seven children has experienced abuse or neglect in the last year; 46 2
WHEREAS, according to the National Center for Victims of Crimes, victim-survivors of 47
child sexual abuse have higher rates of being sexually assaulted again as adults, with children who 48
had an experience of rape or attempted rape in their adolescent years being 13.7 times more likely 49
to experience rape or attempted rape in their first year of college; 50
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WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among adult 52
women surveyed, 22% of Black, 26.9% of American Indian/Alaska Native, 22% of non-Hispanic 53
Black, 18.8% of non-Hispanic White, 14.6% of Hispanic, and 35.5% of women of multiple races 54
experienced an attempted or a completed rape at some time in their lives; 55
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WHEREAS, according to the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, 23% of 57
Asian/Pacific Islander women experience some form of contact sexual violence; 58
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WHEREAS, according to research published by the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law 60
and Policy, married immigrant women experience higher levels of physical and sexual abuse than 61
unmarried immigrant women, at rates of 59.5% compared to 49.8%, respectively; 62
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WHEREAS, according to the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, 12% 64
of transgender youth report being sexually assaulted in K–12 settings by peers or educational staff, 65
13% of African-American transgender people surveyed were sexually assaulted in the workplace, 66
and 22% of homeless transgender individuals were assaulted while staying in shelters; 67
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WHEREAS, according to the National Sexual Violence Research Center, lesbian, gay, 69
bisexual, and queer people were three times more likely to report sexual violence or harassment 70
compared to heterosexual people; 71
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WHEREAS, in deaf communities, reliance on interpreters may create challenges, as some 73
sexual assault survivors feel like their private experiences are not correctly represented and feel 74
uncomfortable reporting their assault to a stranger outside of their community; 75
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WHEREAS, the rate of sexual assault against people with disabilities was three times that 77
of people without disabilities; 78
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WHEREAS, according to the Administration for Children and Families, racial and ethnic 80
minorities, communities exposed to multigenerational trauma, individuals with a history of 81
substance abuse or leaving home, homeless youth, people with lived experience of poverty, and 82
children in the child welfare system, as well as those with a history of sexual abuse, are identified 83
as some of the groups most vulnerable to human trafficking; 84
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WHEREAS, according to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s Statistical Analysis 86
Center, Black girls in their teens and twenties in the District were the largest proportion of 87
trafficking victims in 2016; 88
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WHEREAS, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Task Force on the Study 90
of Harassment in the Workplace found that 45% of all workplace harassment complaints filed in 91 3
Fiscal Year 2015 were based on sex, and that sexual harassment victim-survivors experience 92
detrimental psychological and physical health effects. 93
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WHEREAS, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in 2021, 95
its CyberTipline received 29.3 million reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation, an 96
increase of 35% from 2020; and 97
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WHEREAS, according to the 2021 District of Columbia Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 99
24.7% of District students who identify as LGBTQ and Questioning report being electronically 100
bullied. 101
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 103
resolution may be cited as the “Sexual Assault Awareness Month Recognition Resolution of 104
2023”. 105
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Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia declares the month of April 2023 as “Sexual 107
Assault Awareness Month” in the District of Columbia and urges residents to show their support 108
for victim-survivors and work to prevent sexual assault, abuse, harassment, online harassment, and 109
sex trafficking. 110
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Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 112