ENROLLED
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 103
BY REPRESENTATIVE MOORE
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services to study the feasibility
of implementing a 233 helpline as an additional resource for sexual abuse victims in
this state.
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Health identifies unwanted exposure to
sexually explicit material, language, or contact as sexual abuse; and
WHEREAS, the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University conducted the Louisiana
Study on Violence Experiences Across the Lifespan (LaVEX) during the summer of 2023
and surveyed more than one thousand adults across the state on a comprehensive range of
experiences of violence, which included instances of verbal abuse, cyberbullying, sexual
assault, and gun violence; and
WHEREAS, according to the LaVEX study, forty-one percent of adults in Louisiana
have experienced sexual violence or harassment in their lifetime, twenty-nine percent of
adults in Louisiana have been verbally sexually harassed, and eleven percent of adults in
Louisiana have experienced sexual assault; and
WHEREAS, the LaVEX study also found that women often experienced such abuse
at the hands of a romantic or sexual partner; and
WHEREAS, forty-two percent of women have experienced physical or sexual
violence from a partner with only ten percent of these women reporting their partner; and
WHEREAS, organizations like the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault
(LaFASA), the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), and Sexual Trauma
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Awareness & Response (STAR) exist to address sexual abuse concerns in this state and offer
resources to survivors; and
WHEREAS, such sexual abuse initiatives provide support services to survivors and
statewide sexual assault crisis centers through education, professional training, technical
assistance, and community engagement; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Children and Family Services has implemented a
hotline for child abuse and neglect, which includes reports of sexual trafficking; and
WHEREAS, expansion of such services could be beneficial to Louisiana residents
who are currently facing or have faced sexual abuse, reported or otherwise; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Children and Family Services should research and
consider the implementation of a 233 helpline as an additional resource for sexual abuse
victims in this state.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services to study the feasibility of
implementing a 233 helpline as an additional resource for sexual abuse victims in this state
and submit its findings in the form of a written report by February 1, 2025 to the House and
Senate committees on health and welfare.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall include information about means
of funding for creating a helpline and determining costs for a marketing campaign to boost
awareness of the 233 helpline initiative.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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