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4 <br /> 1 d. Sexual Assault Awareness Month Proclamation <br /> 2 The Board considered a proclamation recognizing April 2017 as Sexual Assault <br /> 3 Awareness Month in Orange County and authorizing the Chair to sign. <br /> 4 Orange County Rape Crisis Center Board member Adina Safta accepted the <br /> 5 proclamation on behalf of the Crisis Center. <br /> 6 Commissioner Marcoplos read the proclamation: <br /> 7 <br /> 8 <br /> 9 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> 10 Proclamation <br /> 11 "Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2017" <br /> 12 <br /> 13 WHEREAS, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center assisted over 500 survivors of sexual <br /> 14 violence, their loved ones, and community professionals during 2016; and <br /> 15 <br /> 16 WHEREAS, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center works with the county's two school systems <br /> 17 and other groups to provide students with age-appropriate information about violence <br /> 18 prevention, reaching over 15,000 youth and adults each year; and <br /> 19 Donna, I can't get rid of this line!! <br /> 20 WHEREAS, the coordination of the Orange County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) is <br /> 21 bringing together members of law enforcement, the medical community, the legal system, and <br /> 22 other community advocates to improve services for survivors of sexual assault who come <br /> 23 forward; and <br /> 24 <br /> 25 WHEREAS, 1 in 5 American women have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives <br /> 26 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010); and <br /> 27 <br /> 28 WHEREAS, in the United States rape is the most costly crime to its survivors, totaling $127 <br /> 29 billion a year considering factors such as medical cost, lost earnings, pain, suffering, and lost <br /> 30 quality of life (U.S. Department of Justice, 1996); and <br /> 31 <br /> 32 WHEREAS, in the United States 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of <br /> 33 sexual or physical violence committed by an intimate partner (Centers for Disease Control and <br /> 34 Prevention, 2010); and <br /> 35 <br /> 36 WHEREAS, there are more than 16,500 sex offenders registered as living in North Carolina <br /> 37 (Department of Justice, 2015) <br /> 38 <br /> 39 WHEREAS, victim-blaming continues to be an enormous problem in instances of rape and <br /> 40 sexual assault; and <br /> 41 <br /> 42 WHEREAS, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, a nonprofit agency that has served this <br /> 43 community since 1974, is working to stop sexual violence and its impact through support, <br /> 44 education, and advocacy; <br /> 45 <br /> 46 NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, <br /> 47 do hereby proclaim the month of April 2017 as "SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH" <br /> 48 and encourage all residents to speak out against sexual violence and to support their local <br /> 49 community's efforts to prevent and respond to these appalling crimes. <br /> 50 <br />