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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 15, 2003 <br />Action Age~a, <br />Item No. ~j <br />SUBJECT: Sexual Assault Awareness Month <br />DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Proclamation Clerk's Office, ext. 2130, 2125, 2126, 2129 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 245-2130 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider proclaiming April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Orange <br />County. <br />BACKGROUND: In the United States, one in six women and one in 33 men has experienced a <br />complete or attempted rape at some time in their lives (U.S. Department of Justice 1998). In <br />North Carolina, one in five women have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives <br />(N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). There are 5,915 sex offenders and <br />sexual predators registered as living in North Carolina (State Bureau of Investigation, 2002). <br />Sexual assault is the most costly crime to its victims considering factors such as medical cost, <br />lost earnings, pain, suffering and lost quality of life. <br />The Orange County Rape Crisis Center has requested that the Orange County Board of <br />Commissioners proclaim April 2003 as "Sexual Assault Awareness Month" in Orange County <br />and encourage all citizens to speak out against sexual assault and support their local <br />communities' efforts to provide services to victims of this heinous crime. <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: None <br />RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the <br />proclamation designating April as "Sexual Assault Awareness Month" and authorize the Chair to <br />sign. <br />