Senate Resolution No. 1795

BY: Senator ROBACH

MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
May 8, 2017, as Domestic Violence Awareness and
Prevention Day in the State of New York

WHEREAS, As part of executing its mission, the New York State
Coalition Against Domestic Violence seeks to eradicate domestic violence
and to ensure the provision of effective and appropriate services to
victims of domestic violence through community outreach, education,
training, technical assistance and policy development; and

WHEREAS, The Coalition's principles and practices prioritize the
safety and concerns of victims who are abused, provide support and
encouragement for the participation of victims who are abused in the
struggle to eradicate personal and institutional violence against them,
and provide for a noncompetitive atmosphere that fosters open
communication, respect, and cooperation among advocates and victims who
are abused; and

WHEREAS, Approximately one in four women and one in seven men in the
United States will experience physical domestic violence at some point
in their lifetime; and

WHEREAS, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence
or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States - more than 12
million women and men over the course of a year; and

WHEREAS, Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk
of nonfatal intimate partner violence; and

WHEREAS, Domestic violence victims experience a host of health and
mental health-related consequences at far greater rates than their
counterparts who have not been abused; and

WHEREAS, For the second year in a row, New York State still has the
greatest demand for domestic violence support services in the country;
and

WHEREAS, The NYS Office of Children and Family Services reported
that over 53,000 survivors of domestic violence and their children
received services from residential, non-residential, and transitional
housing programs licensed by OCFS, and nearly 157,000 hotline calls were
received by domestic violence programs across the State in 2015; and

WHEREAS, The economic burden of domestic violence in the United
States is over $8.3 billion per year in direct medical costs and loss of
productivity; and

WHEREAS, 15.5 million children in the United States live in families
in which domestic violence occurred at least once in the past year, and
7 million children live in families in which severe domestic violence
occurred; and

WHEREAS, According to the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services,
there were 114 domestic homicides in New York State in 2015; and

WHEREAS, The cost of a single homicide can range over $17.25 million
when considering medical care costs, lost future earnings, public
program costs, property damage and losses, and quality of life losses;
and

WHEREAS, Only approximately one-quarter of all physical assaults,
one-fifth of all rapes, and one-half of all stalking incidents
perpetrated against women by intimate partners are reported to the
police; and

WHEREAS, The damage caused by domestic violence is not limited by
gender, age, ethnicity or sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, Education and awareness campaigns have the potential to not
only increase identification of domestic violence and the appropriate
response from helping professionals and the public, but when used in a
primary prevention framework, can also act as a catalyst to change
social and community norms that can prevent it from happening in the
first place; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim May 8, 2017, as
Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Day in the State of New York;
and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York, and the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.