Submitted Resolutions: Senate Concurrent Resolution 58 - Expressing the Sense of Congress with Respect to Raising Awareness and Encouraging ....

SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS: SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 58—EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO RAISING AWARENESS AND ENCOURAGING PREVENTION OF STALKING IN THE UNITED STATES AND SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL STALKING AWARENESS MONTH

    Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution supporting the establishment of a National Stalking Awareness Month. Each year, approximately 1.4 million Americans—over 1 million women and about 400,000 men—are stalked. This statistic is truly staggering. Yet given the prevalence of stalking, this crime surprisingly goes largely unrecognized.

    Stalking is an issue that affects 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men during their lifetime. It cuts across all lines of race, age, and gender. Women and men from all walks of life across the United States have struggled emotionally and financially to rebuild their lives after being victimized by stalking.

    Stalking is a tremendous problem, and it is one that we need to do more to address. A National Stalking Awareness Month would help to educate and increase awareness about stalking. This resolution applauds the efforts of policymakers, law enforcement officers, victim service agencies, and non-profit organizations that currently promote awareness of stalking.

    This resolution also encourages these groups to examine new and innovative ways to promote prevention and prosecution of stalking crimes. By increasing awareness and devising practical, effectual methods for handling stalkers, we can help the police, we can help prosecutors, and most importantly, we can help victims to confront this horrible crime.

    I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution. We can—and we should—do more to ensure that stalkers are brought to justice and that their victims are not forced to live in fear.