Title
Authorizing the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings examining the City's response to sexual violence, including support for survivors, law enforcement's response, the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault, and prevention, in light of recent sexual assault cases in Philadelphia and reopened investigations of school campus sexual assault elsewhere.
WHEREAS, Sexual violence is a term that encompasses a variety of acts that range from verbal harassment, or sexual harassment, to forced sexual intercourse, including rape and sexual assault, and multiple types of coercion, like social pressure, intimidation and physical force; and
WHEREAS, Sexual assault is a violent and heinous criminal action, in which a perpetrator abuses their power by violating a victim’s bodily freedom, and safety; and
WHEREAS, Sexual assault is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of abhorrent behaviors, like rape, sodomy, touching an intimate body part clothed or unclothed, including when a victim lacks the ability to consent; and
WHEREAS, While sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes, with estimates of only 20 to 25% of rapes resulting in a police report, a national study estimates 443,634 rapes and sexual assaults occur among victims age 12 or older, and at least 56,575 children are sexually abused every year in the United States, highlighting the prevalence, frequency and discreet nature of this violent crime; and
WHEREAS, 45.1% of women, which is nearly half, in the United States experienced some type of sexual violence in their lifetimes, and women are two to three times more likely than men to experience sexual violence globally, however men can experience and be victims to sexual violence given 1 in 6 men or 16.9% have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetimes; and
WHEREAS, Marginalized and underserved communities are disproportionately impacted by sexual violence with nearly 1 in 5 Black and Brown wo...
Click here for full text