Presidential Document2023-07313
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 5, 2023
Signed
March 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20371-20372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07313]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 65 / Wednesday, April 5, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 20371]]
Proclamation 10545 of March 31, 2023
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention
Month, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Freedom from sexual assault is a basic human right. Yet
tens of millions of Americans--our family and friends,
colleagues, neighbors, and classmates--carry the trauma
of sexual assault with them. National Sexual Assault
Awareness and Prevention Month is an important time to
speak out, stand with courageous survivors, and finally
change the culture that has allowed sexual violence to
exist for far too long.
Sexual violence affects all people, regardless of
geography, race, age, ethnicity, gender, religion,
sexual orientation, gender identity, or economic
background. One in four women and 1 in 26 men have
survived a rape or attempted rape. Abuse can happen
anywhere--at work, at home, at school, in other public
places, or online. It can lead to depression, anxiety,
PTSD, and other physical and emotional wounds. We must
keep fighting to make clear how important consent is
and how sexual assault can be a crime. And we must help
survivors access safety, justice, and healing.
That is why I wrote the landmark Violence Against Women
Act (VAWA) 30 years ago, at a time when domestic
violence and sexual assault were often swept under the
rug. We changed that. VAWA has given us tools to
prevent and prosecute sexual assault and provide
support for survivors. It has helped to save and
rebuild so many lives, and I have never quit working to
strengthen the law, including expanding protections
when VAWA was reauthorized in 2000, 2005, 2013, and
most recently in 2022. These efforts have expanded
support for survivors, especially for people of color,
members of the LGBTQI+ community, and immigrants, and
have broadened protections to cover online abuse, such
as the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
We increased VAWA funding this past year by 20 percent
to a historic $700 million for 2023.
Today, we are doing more to help survivors in
underserved communities and rural areas. We are working
to reduce the backlog of untested rape kits as many
survivors continue to wait for justice. We are
improving trauma-informed training for law enforcement
and making sure that adult survivors of child sexual
abuse can get help, including legal help and support
for healing. And we have ensured that Tribal courts
have jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators
suspected of committing crimes of sexual assault, sex
trafficking, and child abuse on Tribal lands.
Additionally, through the American Rescue Plan, we have
delivered $1 billion in additional funding for rape
crisis centers, culturally specific community support
organizations, and other domestic violence and sexual
assault services nationwide.
We have also reformed how the military investigates and
prosecutes sexual assault, sexual harassment, and
related crimes, including by shifting authority from
commanders to independent prosecutors. I issued an
Executive Order listing sexual harassment and the
wrongful distribution of intimate images as offenses
under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
[[Page 20372]]
I launched a Federal task force to tackle the rise in
online sexual harassment and abuse, recommending
concrete steps for prevention, accountability,
research, and support for survivors. And I signed laws
ending forced arbitration and limiting the enforcement
of non-disclosure agreements to ensure people who have
experienced sexual assault and sexual harassment in the
workplace can pursue justice.
While we have made progress addressing sexual violence
over the years, there is still much work to do. As
President, I have expanded funding for campus
prevention efforts, building on the work I did as Vice
President when we launched ``It's On Us''. I signed an
Executive Order calling on the Department of Education
to protect students from discrimination based on sex,
including sex-based harassment and sexual violence. And
I will continue to fight tirelessly to realize the
promise of Title IX, which requires institutions to
prevent and address sexual violence and harassment. I
have called on young men in particular to speak up and
stand against abuse--because the real test of character
is having the guts to do the right thing. And I have
been awed by the courage of countless survivors in
every part of the country who have come forward to push
for justice and have inspired many others to do the
same. It is on us all to stand with them.
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 2023 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, and to strengthen our efforts to
prevent this abuse in the first place.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
seventh.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-07313
Filed 4-4-23; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 5, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.