Bill Text: CA ACR89 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Concurrent Resolution 89

Bill Title: Abused Women and Children Awareness Day.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 57-15)

Status: (Passed) 2023-07-17 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 121, Statutes of 2023. [ACR89 Detail]

Download: California-2023-ACR89-Chaptered.html

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 89

CHAPTER 121

Relative to Abused Women and Children Awareness Day.

[ Filed with Secretary of State July 17, 2023. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

ACR 89, Calderon. Abused Women and Children Awareness Day.

This measure would proclaim June 13 as Abused Women and Children Awareness Day.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, Violence against women and children is a major public health and safety issue and a violation of human rights that begins early and continues throughout people’s lives in all socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic groups; and

WHEREAS, Intimate partner violence or teen dating violence involves a pattern of physical aggression, and may also include emotional abuse, sexual assault, stalking, social isolation, intimidation, deprivation, and threats; and

WHEREAS, Sixteen million women first experienced forms of violence before 18 years of age; and

WHEREAS, Intimate partner violence is likely to increase fivefold when abusers have access to firearms, and is one of the primary causes of homelessness for women and their children; and

WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 2018 that the lifetime economic cost of medical services for intimate partner violence-related injuries, lost productivity from paid work, involvement from law enforcement, and other costs is $3,600,000,000,000; and

WHEREAS, Studies indicate that children who witness domestic violence, and are themselves victims, experience profound long-term consequences, such as difficulty at school, substance abuse, and attempted suicide, increasing the risk of becoming a domestic violence survivor or abuser as an adult; and

WHEREAS, Between 3,300,000 and 10,000,000 children witness violence in their homes, while at least 1 in 7 children have experienced child abuse or neglect in the past year nationwide, notwithstanding unreported cases; and

WHEREAS, The cost of child maltreatment in the United States totaled an estimated $592,000,000,000 in 2018, attributed to illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes; and

WHEREAS, California law enforcement received more than 166,000 domestic violence calls in 2018, with domestic violence homicides making up about 1 in 10 homicides; and

WHEREAS, The compassion and dedication of individuals involved in efforts to end violence against women and children, including domestic violence hotlines, battered women and children’s shelters, health care providers, community centers, law enforcement agencies, and the courts, are to be recognized and applauded; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature recognizes the vital role that all Californians can play in preventing, and one day ending, domestic violence; and

WHEREAS, The first Abused Women and Children Awareness Day will be proclaimed on June 13, 2023; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims the day of June 13 as Abused Women and Children Awareness Day; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit a copy of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Governor of the State of California, the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.