03/09/2010 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS

             HCR 20-SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
8:19:27 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR LYNN  announced that the  next order of business  was HOUSE                                                               
CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION NO.  20,  Proclaiming the  month of  April                                                               
2010 to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
8:19:52 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  FAIRCLOUGH, Alaska  State  Legislature, as  prime                                                               
sponsor, thanked the committee for hearing HCR 20.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
8:20:08 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KAREN SCHUESSLER,  Staff, Representative Anna  Fairclough, Alaska                                                               
State Legislature,  presented HCR 20 on  behalf of Representative                                                               
Fairclough,  prime  sponsor.   She  stated  that  sexual  assault                                                               
affects men,  women, and  children of  all racial,  cultural, and                                                               
economic backgrounds.   Furthermore, a  person is 2.6  times more                                                               
likely to  be sexually assaulted  in Alaska than any  other state                                                               
in  the nation.   Ms.  Schuessler  said sexual  assault leaves  a                                                               
long-lasting  physical [and]  emotional scar  that can  influence                                                               
every aspect  of an individual's  life.  She urged  the committee                                                               
to support the proposed resolution.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
8:20:58 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO  directed attention  to language on  page 1,                                                               
line 8, which read:  "one in  11 men will report being victims of                                                               
sexual  violence".   He asked  if there  is a  ratio of  reported                                                               
versus probable incidents.   He said it is  surprising and almost                                                               
unrealistic that 10  percent of men have sexual  violence done to                                                               
them.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
8:21:41 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH responded that  the number reported was                                                               
gleaned  from a  survey.   She offered  her perspective  that men                                                               
experience more difficulty  in reporting having been  a victim of                                                               
sexual  assault.    Representative  Fairclough said  there  is  a                                                               
specific way in which rape is  defined, but there are "many other                                                               
things  that are  inappropriate"  that are  not  "counted."   She                                                               
stated that sexual assault is  in itself difficult to talk about,                                                               
and people  report it on  blind surveys,  which is the  source of                                                               
the  aforementioned  statistic.    In  response  to  a  follow-up                                                               
question,  she said  if a  person is  assaulted repeatedly,  that                                                               
would  be counted  as one  person being  assaulted, but  multiple                                                               
incidences of  violence.  If  the state were to  prosecute, there                                                               
would be individual infractions against the perpetrator.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:24:06 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR LYNN  said he  imagines there are  far more  incidences [of                                                               
rape] of men, women, and children, than are ever reported.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH  related that she  used to work  as the                                                               
executive director of Standing Together  Against Rape (STAR), and                                                               
she  reported that  rape crisis  centers,  domestic centers,  and                                                               
suicide lines receive hundreds, if  not thousands, of calls every                                                               
year that "don't really count in  the numbers that you see before                                                               
you today."                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:24:37 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  FAIRCLOUGH,  in  response   to  a  question  from                                                               
Representative  Gruenberg, said  95-98 percent  of the  clientele                                                               
receiving service  at STAR's physical  location were women.   She                                                               
stated, "That leads  me to believe that if one  in eleven men are                                                               
effected,  they are  less likely  to seek  support services,  but                                                               
that's [antidotal]."                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG  said he doesn't  know what needs  to be                                                               
done,  but hopes  that  both  men and  women  would feel  equally                                                               
comfortable in seeking  out services.  He noted  that security of                                                               
the  crisis centers  is an  issue, and  he mentioned  legislation                                                               
that was introduced a few years ago related to that issue.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
8:26:24 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR LYNN,  after ascertaining  that there was  no one  else who                                                               
wished to testify, closed public testimony.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:26:32 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SEATON encouraged  continued  emphasis on  public                                                               
awareness and "other  mechanisms" to bring down the  high rate of                                                               
sexual assault  in Alaska.   He thanked the sponsor  for bringing                                                               
forward HCR 20.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR   LYNN  invited   other  legislators   to  co-sponsor   the                                                               
resolution.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:27:18 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH invited the  committee to take place in                                                               
a governor-sponsored  walk from the  steps of the  capitol, which                                                               
she said would take place on March 31, 2010, at noon.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  LYNN requested  that Representative  Fairclough make  that                                                               
announcement on  the House  floor and  to put  notices up  in the                                                               
capitol building.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  FAIRCLOUGH noted  that  representatives from  the                                                               
Alaska  Network  on  Domestic Violence  and  Sexual  Assault  are                                                               
present  in Juneau  today  and tomorrow  and  should be  visiting                                                               
offices around the capitol.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:28:27 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON  moved to  report HCR  20 out  of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.  There being no objection,  HCR 20 was reported out of the                                                               
House State Affairs Standing Committee.