PHOENIX — Former Governor Doug Ducey today proclaimed the month of April to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month to raise awareness about sexual assault, provide support to survivors, and strive to achieve a state where sexual assault victims have a clear path to justice to ensure that our communities, families, and children are protected.
View text of the proclamation below
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WHEREAS, rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment harm our communities and have widespread physical and mental health implications; and
WHEREAS, statistics show nearly one in two women and nearly one in four men have been victims of contact sexual violence at some point in their lives; and
WHEREAS, the Arizona Department of Public Safety indicates that 3,279 rapes were reported to police in 2017; and
WHEREAS, individuals with intellectual disabilities are seven times more likely to be sexually assaulted; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 11.5 percent of girls and 4.5 percent of boys in grades 9 through 12 reported they were physically forced to have sexual intercourse against their will; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the immediate physical and emotional costs to victims, sexual assault can lead to long-term, devastating health effects, including post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, depression, homelessness, eating disorders, and suicide; and
WHEREAS, through prevention education, awareness efforts, a strong continuum of victim services, and holding perpetrators responsible for their actions, we can work together to better address sexual violence and create safer communities for all Arizonans; and
WHEREAS, through collaborative efforts, individuals, agencies, organizations, and communities can work together to prevent sexual assault and support victims and survivors.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Douglas A. Ducey, Governor of the State of Arizona, do hereby proclaim April 2019 as
SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be
affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arizona
GOVERNOR
DONE at the Capitol in Phoenix on this twenty-seventh day of March in the year
Two Thousand and Nineteen and of the Independence of lhe United Stales of America
the Two Hundred and Forty-Third.
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE
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