Sexual Assault Resolution Approved by Senate

On September 8, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution (S. Res. 537) supporting the National Sexual Assault Hotline and commending the hotline for counseling and supporting more than one million callers.

Sponsored by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), the resolution contained a number of findings, including:

• It is estimated that a sexual assault occurs every 2.5 minutes in the United States and more than 200,000 people in the United States each year are victims of sexual assault;
• One of every six women and one of every 33 men in the United States have been victims of rape or attempted rape, according to the Department of Justice; and
• Research suggests that sexual assault victims who receive counseling are more likely to report the assault to the police and to participate in the prosecution of the offender.The resolution praises the National Sexual Assault Hotline, begun in 1994, as an “outstanding example of a successful partnership between the federal government, the private sector, and individuals.”