HR0751enr 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0751 Enrolled LRB100 17261 MST 32420 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION 751

WHEREAS, Research indicates that one in three women in the United States experience domestic violence; that means approximately 1.67 million women in Illinois experiences domestic violence at least once; and

WHEREAS, During the State of Illinois 2017 fiscal year, 50 agencies funded by the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported that services were provided to 41,243 adults who were accompanied by 8,000 children; a total of 61% of those adults seeking services had between one and three accompanying children; 3,122 children were provided overnight shelter; of the children served, 71% were younger than 10 years of age; another 3,670 children were denied shelter along with their accompanying adult because of lack of beds; the 41,243 adults received 358,774 hours of service in counseling, advocacy, support in the courts, and economic self-sufficiency support; and

WHEREAS, A study of low-income preschoolers finds that children who have been exposed to family violence suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as bed-wetting or nightmares, and are at greater risk than their peers of having allergies, asthma, gastrointestinal problems, headaches, and flu; children of mothers who experience prenatal physical domestic violence are at an increased risk of exhibiting aggressive, anxious, depressed, and hyperactive behavior; females who are exposed to their parents' domestic violence as adolescents are significantly more likely to become victims of dating violence than daughters of nonviolent parents; and

WHEREAS, Children who experience childhood trauma, including witnessing incidents of domestic violence, are at a greater risk of having serious adult health problems including tobacco use, substance abuse, obesity, cancer, heart disease, and depression; they also have a higher risk of having an unintended pregnancy; and

WHEREAS, Physical abuse during childhood increases the risk of future victimization among women and the risk of future perpetration of abuse by men more than two-fold; and

WHEREAS, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "in the United States, one in five women have experienced completed or attempted rape"; approximately one in 15 men have experienced rape, and "most victims first experienced sexual violence before age 25"; that means more than one million women and more than 400,000 men in Illinois experience sexual violence in their lifetime; and

WHEREAS, The FBI Crime Clock statistics in 2016 reported that a rape occurs every four minutes in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault consists of 30 rape crisis centers; during the State of Illinois 2017 fiscal year, the Illinois rape crisis centers served 19,077 survivors of sexual assault, and provided 95,038 hours of service to survivors, including 57,056 hours of counseling, 13,173 hours of criminal justice advocacy and 8,028 hours of medical advocacy; the centers also provided 22,427 hours of prevention education to 581,350 participants; and

WHEREAS, The CDC has declared: "Sexual violence is a very serious public health problem that affects millions of women and men"; the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center (NVAWPRC) reports that 31% of rape victims develop PTSD; NVAWPRC also found that rape victims are 4.1 times more likely than non-crime victims to have contemplated suicide and 13 times more likely to attempt suicide; and

WHEREAS, Victims of sexual assault are three times more likely than non-victims to experience a major depressive episode in their lives, and depression is a frequent symptom in survivors of childhood sexual abuse; and

WHEREAS, Research also shows that child sexual assault survivors are more likely to have pelvic pain and pelvic inflammatory disorder, breast diseases, yeast infections, bladder infections, complications of pregnancy and chronic pain, including backaches and headaches; and

WHEREAS, Domestic violence has become a national emergency and state agencies are overwhelmed simply trying to respond to what is happening, which leaves almost no resources or time to work toward prevention; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare domestic violence and sexual assault a public health priority for the State of Illinois and we urge the State to make available all necessary resources to combat this epidemic; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to Governor Rauner and all members of the General Assembly.