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.