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1996 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 328
Designating October 1996 as SAVE Month in Virginia and October 9, 1996, as SAVE Today for Tomorrow Day in Virginia.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 23, 1996
Agreed to by the Senate, March 6, 1996

WHEREAS, violence is among the leading causes of death in America and has replaced disease as the number one killer of children; and

WHEREAS, violence comes in many forms: sexual violence, gang and peer-related violence committed by youth of all ages, family violence, and elder violence; and

WHEREAS, a year-long study has just concluded that "there are substantial risks of harmful effects from viewing violence throughout the television environment"; and

WHEREAS, domestic violence is an ongoing, debilitating experience of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse in the home, associated with increased isolation from the outside world and limited personal freedom and accessibility to resources; and

WHEREAS, domestic violence may be the most common source of serious injury to women, accounting for almost three times as many visits for health care as motor vehicle crashes; and

WHEREAS, domestic violence has devastating effects on a woman's physical and emotional well-being and her ability to care for her children; and

WHEREAS, domestic violence is responsible each year for more than 192,000 assaults, 39,000 emergency room visits and 21,000 hospitalizations, totaling 99,800 hospital days; and

WHEREAS, the annual economic costs of domestic violence in the United States have been estimated to be between $5 billion and $10 billion in health care costs, lost productivity, and criminal justice intervention; and

WHEREAS, the first step toward unraveling the many layers of our nation's violence problem can begin with awareness; and

WHEREAS, the "Stop America's Violence Everywhere" Program, known as SAVE, involves the spouses of physicians from all over the United States in efforts to end violence and help victims reclaim their lives; and

WHEREAS, members of the Medical Society of Virginia Alliance will lead the effort to urge the people in the Commonwealth to search for ways to help "SAVE Today for Tomorrow" by dedicating one day to raise awareness of the ways in which people can solve violence problems in their own communities; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the month of October 1996 be designated as SAVE Month in Virginia; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General Assembly designate October 9, 1996, as SAVE Today for Tomorrow Day in Virginia.