PROCLAMATION:
Whereas sexual assault affects people of every age, race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, and socioeconomic background; and the CDC reports in its National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey that in the United States, one in five women has been a victim of a completed or attempted rape at some point in her lifetime; and
Whereas the Commission on the Status of Women is mindful of the fact that sexual assault remains a serious issue in our society, that harmful attitudes allow these crimes to persist and survivors to be re-victimized, and the importance of each of us speaking out against it in order to change attitudes which allow sexual assault to persist; and
Whereas National Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month calls attention to misconceptions and misinformation about sexual assault, and it is important that we rededicate ourselves to creating a society where sexual assault is not tolerated, survivors are supported and all persons in our community can live without fear of sexual assault; and
Whereas with proper education we can be successful in reducing this alarming physical and psychologically damaging crime, and help survivors to heal;
Now, Therefore I, Victor M. Gordo, Mayor of the City of Pasadena, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of April, 2022 in Pasadena as Sexual Assault Prevention & Awareness Month, and encourage everyone to wear jeans on April 27, 2022 as part of Denim Day—an international effort to communicate that there is “no excuse and never an invitation to rape.”