Presidential Document2022-07275
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, 2022
Primary source
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Published
April 5, 2022
Signed
March 31, 2022
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19589-19591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07275]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 5, 2022 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 19589]]
Proclamation 10361 of March 31, 2022
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention
Month, 2022
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
I was raised to believe that one of the greatest sins
is the abuse of power--whether it is economic,
psychological, or physical. The cruel fact is that
people of every age, ability, race, sex, gender
identity, sexual orientation, national origin,
socioeconomic background, and religion suffer the pain
and trauma of the abuse of power that is sexual
assault. Sexual violence can occur anywhere--and
millions of assaults occur each year at the workplace,
in the home, at school, and online. These assaults are
an intolerable affront to our shared humanity. During
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month,
we renew our commitment to ensuring that every person
can live a life free from sexual violence. We continue
in our commitment to stand with survivors, hold
perpetrators accountable, and dismantle a culture that
is complicit in allowing sexual violence to continue.
Sexual assault is also a public health crisis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, nearly 1 in 5 women in America experiences
a rape or attempted rape, and nearly 44 percent of
women and about 25 percent of all men experience some
form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Tragically,
many of those assaulted are young, and research shows
that these assaults can have lifelong effects on health
and are linked to chronic illnesses. Too often, this
trauma is compounded by lost productivity, the
challenge of seeking accountability, and the ensuing
costs of medical and mental health care.
My Administration is committed to supporting survivors
and alleviating the public health crisis of sexual
assault. That is why we included $450 million in the
American Rescue Plan to provide funding for domestic
violence and sexual assault services, including rape
crisis centers. We also included a historic commitment
to funding culturally-specific community-based
organizations to address the needs of survivors who
face systemic barriers to accessing support and
resources, including survivors of color, survivors with
disabilities, and LGBTQI+ survivors. My Administration
continues to fund innovative programs to support sexual
assault survivors in rural and remote communities.
I am committed to addressing sexual violence wherever
it occurs. Last year, I issued an Executive Order
directing the Department of Education to review Title
IX regulations and other agency actions to ensure that
all students have an educational environment that is
free from discrimination on the basis of sex. Because 1
in 3 women under the age of 35 has experienced sexual
harassment online, I have made addressing online forms
of sexual violence, harassment, and abuse a priority,
and my Administration recently launched a new Global
Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online
Harassment and Abuse.
Sexual violence is also a matter of national security
and military readiness. To advance the goal of
eliminating sexual assault in our Armed Forces, I
signed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act,
which includes the historic shift of legal decisions in
cases of sexual assault from commanders to independent,
specialized military prosecutors. To implement the I Am
[[Page 19590]]
Vanessa Guill[eacute]n Act, I also issued an Executive
Order to add sexual harassment as a specific offense
under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
I was proud to support and sign into law the Ending
Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual
Harassment Act of 2021. This law advances efforts to
prevent and address sexual harassment and sexual
assault and promotes access to justice by guaranteeing
that people who have experienced sexual assault and
sexual harassment in the workplace are not forced into
binding arbitration and are instead allowed to choose
whether to go to court.
Ending violence against women and eliminating sexual
assault has been a priority for me throughout my life.
It is why I wrote and championed the original Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA), a law that has transformed
how we respond to sexual assault and which I count as
one of my proudest legislative accomplishments. I am
proud to have recently signed into law the
reauthorization of VAWA, which expands prevention
efforts and protections for survivors of sexual assault
and other forms of gender-based violence. The law will
provide increased resources and training so that our
law enforcement and our judicial systems are better
able to appropriately handle these cases. It includes a
new focus on addressing technology-facilitated abuse
and establishes a Federal civil cause of action for
victims of non-consensual distribution of intimate
images. The Act will strengthen rape prevention and
education efforts, support rape crisis centers, improve
the training of sexual assault forensic examiners,
reduce the backlog of untested DNA kits, and broaden
access to legal services for all survivors. It will
also expand recognition of the special criminal
jurisdiction of Tribal courts to cover non-Native
perpetrators of sexual assault, sex trafficking, child
abuse, and stalking.
This month, we honor the bravery and leadership of
survivors by rededicating ourselves to eliminating
sexual violence. It will require care and commitment
from each of us to realize an America where everyone is
free from the threat and impact of sexual violence.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of
the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2022 as
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
I urge all Americans to support sexual assault
survivors including when survivors reach out and
disclose abuse.
[[Page 19591]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
sixth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2022-07275
Filed 4-4-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 5, 2022.
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