Bill Text: FL S2782 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Sexual Assault Awareness Month/April 2010

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-08 - Introduced -SJ 00514; Read 2nd time -SJ 00514; Adopted; companion bill(s) passed, see HR 9063 (Adopted) -SJ 00514 [S2782 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S2782-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2010                            (NP)    SR 2782 
        
       By Senator Fasano 
       11-02833-10                                           20102782__ 
    1                          Senate Resolution                         
    2         A resolution recognizing April 2010 as “Sexual Assault 
    3         Awareness Month” in Florida. 
    4   
    5         WHEREAS, sexual assault continues to be a major social 
    6  crisis in our society, with one in nine women in Florida a 
    7  survivor of sexual violence, and 
    8         WHEREAS, sexual assault affects many Floridians, either 
    9  directly, as the survivor of sexual assault, or, indirectly, as 
   10  a family member, friend, neighbor, or co-worker of the survivor, 
   11  and 
   12         WHEREAS, sexual assault has a devastating effect on 
   13  survivors, affecting every aspect of their lives, often leading 
   14  to post-traumatic stress disorder and increasing the risk of 
   15  depression, suicide, homelessness, and substance abuse, and 
   16         WHEREAS, volunteers and service providers in Florida’s 30 
   17  certified rape crisis centers work to provide a continuum of 
   18  care to sexual assault survivors through 24-hour hotlines, 
   19  counseling, support groups, advocacy, medical care, and 
   20  education, and 
   21         WHEREAS, the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence seeks 
   22  to improve services for survivors of sexual assault and to 
   23  prevent future sexual assault through public awareness and 
   24  services for victims, and 
   25         WHEREAS, Lauren’s Kids, Inc., the organization founded by 
   26  child sexual abuse survivor and educator Lauren Book-Lim, in 
   27  conjunction with the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, 
   28  has organized a 500-mile, healing-journey walk across Florida 
   29  called “Walk In My Shoes,” which symbolizes the long and painful 
   30  road to recovery for survivors of sexual assault, and 
   31         WHEREAS, this “Walk In My Shoes” walk from Aventura to 
   32  Tallahassee will help provide awareness, guidance, and support 
   33  for survivors while also working to educate adults and children 
   34  about sexual assault, including the message that it is 
   35  acceptable to tell others about abuse that they have 
   36  experienced, and 
   37         WHEREAS, a 2010 survey of rape crisis centers by the 
   38  National Alliance to End Sexual Violence indicates that 70 
   39  percent of rape crisis programs have experienced a reduction in 
   40  funding over the past year, 57 percent have experienced a 
   41  reduction in staffing, 25 percent currently have a waiting list 
   42  for services, and funding cuts have resulted in an overall 50 
   43  percent reduction in the provision of advocacy services, and 
   44         WHEREAS, the Florida Senate recognizes the vital importance 
   45  of designating a time devoted to increasing public awareness and 
   46  support of agencies providing services to sexual assault 
   47  survivors, and envisions a future in which all communities are 
   48  free of sexual violence, NOW, THEREFORE, 
   49   
   50  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: 
   51   
   52         That April 2010 is recognized as “Sexual Assault Awareness 
   53  Month” in Florida. 
   54         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution, with 
   55  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the Florida 
   56  Council Against Sexual Violence and Lauren’s Kids, Inc., as a 
   57  tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida Senate.