Orange County NC Website
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />Proclamation <br />Sexual Assault Awareness Month <br />April 2004 <br />WHEREAS, 425 primary and secondary survivors of sexual violence sought <br />assistance from the Orange County Rape Crisis Center during 2003 (Orange <br />County Rape Crisis Center Annual Report); and <br />WHEREAS, 1 in 5 North Carolina women have been sexually assaulted at some <br />point in 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 victims <br />totaling $127 billion a year considering factors such as medical cost, lost <br />earnings, pain, suffering and lost quality of life (U.S. Department of Justice, <br />1996); and <br />WHEREAS, in the United States 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men has experienced <br />a completed or attempted rape at sometime in their life (US Department of <br />Justice 1998); and <br />WHEREAS, in a recent survey, 97% of parents surveyed by the Kaiser Family <br />Foundation wanted sex education to include what their teen should do if raped <br />(Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation September 2000); and <br />WHEREAS, there are 5,915 sex offenders and sexual predators registered as <br />living in North Carolina (State Bureau of Investigation 2002); and <br />WHEREAS, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, anon-profit, volunteer <br />agency which has been serving this community since 1974, is commemorating <br />30 years of working to stop sexual violence and its impact through support, <br />education and advocacy; <br />NOW THEREFORE do we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, hereby <br />proclaim the month of April 2004 as "SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS <br />MONTH" in Orange County and encourage all citizens to speak out against <br />sexual assault and support their local communities' efforts to provide services to <br />victims of this heinous crime. <br />This the 13th day of April 2004. <br />~~'~ <br />Barry Jacobs, Chair <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />