Proclamation: Sexual Assault Awareness Month

ADOPTED MARCH 28, 2022

WHEREAS, Sexual Assault Awareness Month calls attention to the fact that sexual assault violence is widespread and impacts every person in this community; and

WHEREAS, rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment impact our community and statistics show that one in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives; that one in six boys and one in four girls will experience a sexual assault before age 18; youth ages 12-17 are 2.5 times as likely to be victims of rape or sexual assault and on campus one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted; and

WHEREAS, during 2021, Family Life Center, as the certified Rape Crisis Center in Flagler County, provided 500 hours of peer-crisis counseling for survivors, 1,608 supportive services and answered 67 sexual assault crisis hotline calls for survivors of sexual assault and their families living in Flagler County; and

WHEREAS, the “Building Safe Online Spaces Together” public awareness campaign (a program of National Sexual Violence Resource Center) is designed to continue the conversation about building online communities centered on respect, inclusion, and safety and the ways we can work together to end sexual harassment, assault, and abuse online and offline; and

WHEREAS, the City of Bunnell joins advocates and communities across the country because we are strongest when we raise our voices together to change the culture to prevent sexual violence.  Prevention requires addressing the root causes and social norms that allow sexual violence to exist.  April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and each day of the year is an opportunity to create change for the future.

WHEREAS, the Flagler County Advocate Alliance (comprised of Victim Advocates from Bunnell Police Department, Family Life Center, Flagler Beach Police Department, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the State Attorney, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Flagler) is hereby dedicated to strengthening victims and survivors in the aftermath of crime, building resilience in our communities and our victim responders, and working for a better future for all victims and survivors.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Catherine D. Robinson as Mayor of the City of Bunnell do hereby proclaim April 2022 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the City of Bunnell and encourage all citizens to support the “Building Safe Online Spaces Together” public awareness campaign.