SCR 2-SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH: APRIL 2017  3:59:13 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that the next order of business would be SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 2, Proclaiming April 2017 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. 4:00:28 PM CHRISTINE MARASIGAN, Staff, Senator Kevin Meyer, Alaska State Legislature, responded to an earlier question from Representative Sullivan-Leonard during the April 4 House Health and Social Services Standing Committee meeting about progress on lowering the high rate of sexual assault. She said that generally there had been a decline and she relayed information from the Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Alaska Victimization Survey, which compared the results of 2010 to 2015. She shared that in 2010, 12 in 100 women had experienced intimate partner violence and by 2015, this had dropped to 8 in 100 women. She said that during this same period, intimate partner violence had decreased by 32 percent, a drop of 6,556 women, and sexual violence had decreased by 33 percent, a drop of 3,072 women. She reported that more than half the adult women in Alaska, more than 130,000 women, had experienced violence in their lifetime, and, although these rates were coming down, Alaska was still number one in the U.S. for sexual assault and violence. She stated that it was hard to attribute the decline to one particular program, but rather a combination of many public awareness campaigns and education. 4:03:11 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ opened public testimony. 4:03:44 PM TARA BURNS, Community United for Safety and Protection, explained that her organization was for current and former sex workers in Alaska, sex trafficking victims, and allies working toward safety and protection for everyone in Alaska's sex trade. She reported that a recent survey of Alaska voters did place a high priority on addressing sexual assault in the state, noting that the processing of the backlog of rape kits was the second priority only behind the investigations for missing and murdered sex workers in Anchorage. She added that 93 percent of voters did not realize that it was legal for police officers to have sex with those they were investigating, with 90 percent wanting this to be illegal. She shared that more than 70,000 people had signed a petition to make this illegal. She stated support for HB 112 and SB 73, noting that neither bill had been scheduled for public testimony, and suggesting that even in the Alaska State Legislature raising more awareness was necessary to bring the law in line with the priorities of Alaskan voters to address sexual assault in the communities. She stated support for the proposed resolution. 4:05:26 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ closed public testimony. 4:05:38 PM REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON moved to report SCR 2 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, SCR 2 was moved from the House Health and Social Services Standing Committee.