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2 <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />Proclamation <br />Sexual Assault Awareness Month <br />April 2005 <br />WHEREAS, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center assisted 425 survivors of sexual <br />violence and their family members, friends and loved ones during the 2003 - 2004 fiscal <br />year; and <br />WHEREAS, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center works with the County's two school <br />systems to provide all students with age-appropriate information about sexual assault <br />prevention, reaching 8,102 children and youth during the 2003 - 2004 school year; and <br />WHEREAS, the coordination of the Orange County Sexual Assault Response Team <br />(BART) is bringing together members of law enforcement, the medical community, the <br />legal system and other community advocates to improve services for survivors of sexual <br />assault who come forward; and <br />WHEREAS, 1 in 5 North Carolina women have been sexually assaulted at some point in <br />their lives (NC Department of Health and Human Services, 1999); and <br />WHEREAS, in the United States, rape is the most costly crime to its survivors totaling <br />$127 billion a year considering factors such as medical cost, lost earnings, pain, <br />suffering and lost quality of life (U,S. Department of Justice, 1996); and <br />WHEREAS, in the United States, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have experienced a <br />completed or attempted rape at some time in their life (US Department of Justice, 1998); <br />and <br />WHEREAS, there are 5,915 sex offenders and sexual predators registered as living in <br />North Carolina (State Bureau of Investigation, 2002); and <br />WHEREAS, the blaming of the victim continues to be an enormous problem in instances <br />of rape and sexual assault; and <br />WHEREAS, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, anon-profit, volunteer agency <br />which has been serving this community since 1974, is working with others in the <br />community to stop sexual violence and its impact through support, education and <br />advocacy; and <br />WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners has contributed $28,000 to the <br />Rape Crisis Center in this fiscal year to help further their support, education, and <br />advocacy efforts to stop sexual violence throughout the County <br />NOW THEREFORE do we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, hereby <br />proclaim the month of April 2005 as "SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH" and <br />encourage all people to speak out against sexual violence and to support their local <br />communities' efforts to prevent and respond to these appalling crimes. <br />This the 12~h day of April 2005 <br />Moses Carey, Chair <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />