Declare Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Senate Resolution No. 117 BY: Senator PERSAUD MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim October 2025, as Domestic Violence Awareness Month 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, Domestic violence consists of abusive and coercive behaviors that one person uses to establish and maintain power and control over another person in a relationship; and WHEREAS, Domestic violence can happen to anyone, and does happen to people of every age, race, gender, sexual orientation, income and occupation; and WHEREAS, Approximately one in four women and one in seven men in the United States aged 18 and older will experience severe 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, 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, New York State has the greatest demand for domestic violence support services in the country, with 9,157 survivors obtaining services on just one day in 2022; 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 more than 213,000 hotline calls were received by domestic violence programs across the State in 2018; 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 children who witness domestic violence suffer many adverse outcomes during their childhood that can extend into their adult years, including chronic disease, substance use and chemical dependency, dropping out of school, and employment and relationship challenges; and WHEREAS, According to the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services, there were 59 domestic homicides in New York State in 2017; 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, Public health research has shown that the use of prevention strategies at multiple levels - from individual to communal to societal - will lead to lasting social change; and WHEREAS, Prevention addresses the root causes and conditions that make domestic violence possible, and primary prevention is focused on establishing gender equality, cultivating healthy relationships, and changing culture to stop domestic violence before it starts; and WHEREAS, Primary prevention 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 to promote healthy and equitable behavior; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim October 2025, as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the State of New York; and be it further RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New York, and the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.