Drafter
Clerk 10/14/2021
title
A RESOLUTION recognizing October 2021 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, supporting funding for survivor-led services, and committing to model nonviolent norms, support survivors and continue shared work on addressing racism and gender-based violence as public health issues.
Body
WHEREAS, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month was established in October 1987 to create a community dialogue about violence, to advocate for legislation to protect victims, and to encourage public awareness and action to prevent abuse, and
WHEREAS, domestic violence is a pattern of violent, intimidating, and coercive behaviors that a person uses to gain and maintain power and control over an intimate partner, and
WHEREAS, before the COVID-19 pandemic, one in four women and nearly one in ten men in the United States reported having experienced intimate partner violence during their lifetimes, and more than half of respondents to the 2015 National Center for Transgender Equality Transgender Survey reported some form of intimate partner violence, and
WHEREAS, domestic violence has a severe impact on its victims, including adverse physical and mental health outcomes and a high risk of homicide, and
WHEREAS, one in six homicides is perpetrated by an intimate partner, and
WHEREAS, one in three teens has experienced some form of abuse in a dating relationship, and nearly half of dating college women report experiencing violent or abusive dating relationships, and
WHEREAS, domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families, and
WHEREAS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit people ("LGBTQ2S+") experience disproportionate rates of domestic and sexual violence and face unique barriers to accessing support, especially for transgender, genderqueer and non-binary survivors. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 40 percent of lesbian women, 61 percent of bisexual women, 26 p...

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