H.Res. 846

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 846 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 846

Supporting the goals and ideals of October as ``National Domestic 
Violence Awareness Month''.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 31, 2025

Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Amo, Ms. Ansari, Ms. 
Balint, Ms. Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bell, Mr. Bera, Mr. Bishop, Ms. 
Bonamici, Ms. Brown, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. Bynum, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. 
Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Carter of Texas, Mr. Casten, Ms. 
Castor of Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cisneros, Ms. 
Clarke of New York, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Costa, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Davids of 
Kansas, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. DeGette, 
Mr. Deluzio, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Dexter, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Elfreth, Ms. 
Escobar, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fields, Mr. 
Figures, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Foster, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Frost, Mr. 
Garamendi, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia 
of Texas, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. 
Gottheimer, Mr. Himes, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Ivey, 
Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Johnson of Texas, 
Mr. Hernandez, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Kennedy of New 
York, Ms. King-Hinds, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Larsen of 
Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Latimer, Ms. Lee of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Liccardo, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. 
McBath, Ms. McBride, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Ms. McClellan, Ms. McCollum, 
Mr. McGovern, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Meng, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Min, Ms. Moore of 
Wisconsin, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, 
Mr. Neal, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Norton, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 
Mr. Olszewski, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Peters, Ms. Pingree, Ms. 
Plaskett, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Pou, Mr. Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Raskin, 
Ms. Rivas, Ms. Ross, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. 
Schakowsky, Ms. Scholten, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell, Ms. 
Sherrill, Ms. Simon, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. Stansbury, Mr. 
Stanton, Mr. Subramanyam, Mr. Swalwell, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. 
Thompson of California, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms. 
Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Torres of New York, Mrs. Torres of 
California, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. 
Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and 
Ms. Wilson of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Supporting the goals and ideals of October as ``National Domestic 
Violence Awareness Month''.

Whereas this resolution may be cited as the ``Original National Domestic 
Violence Awareness Month Resolution of 2025'';
Whereas, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the definition of 
``domestic violence'' is the willful intimidation, physical assault, 
battery, sexual assault, or other abusive behaviors as part of a 
systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate 
partner against another;
Whereas a society that tolerates the hurt, pain, suffering, distress, anguish, 
trauma, and grief of domestic violence perpetuates the injury and grief 
of domestic violence;
Whereas a just society embraces the moral imperative to eliminate, not mitigate, 
domestic violence;
Whereas intimate partner violence affects people of all ages as well as all 
racial, ethnic, gender, economic, and religious backgrounds;
Whereas an average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical 
violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States, 
amounting to more than 12,000,000 women and men over the course of a 
single year;
Whereas, in 2024, the National Domestic Violence Hotline answered more than 
430,000 calls, chats, and texts about services;
Whereas, of the reported abuse types, 94 percent of those who contacted the 
National Domestic Violence Hotline disclosed emotional abuse, 67 percent 
stated they experienced physical abuse, 39 percent described economic or 
financial abuse, 13 percent revealed digital abuse, and 17 percent 
detailed sexual abuse;
Whereas 76 percent of those who contacted the National Domestic Violence Hotline 
identified as victims or survivors, while 11 percent identified as 
friends, family members, or other helpers, and 13 percent identified as 
other, such as those working with survivors or even those causing the 
harm;
Whereas women are disproportionately the victims of domestic violence, as 
approximately 1 in 2 women will experience intimate partner violence or 
stalking during their lifetimes, compared to 2 in 5 men;
Whereas survivors of domestic violence are strong, courageous, and resilient;
Whereas women ages 18 to 34 experience the highest rates, per capita, of 
intimate partner violence;
Whereas approximately 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men who were victims of contact 
sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner 
first experienced these or other forms of violence before age 18;
Whereas nearly 1 in 3 college women say they have been in an abusive dating 
relationship;
Whereas about 44 percent of Native American women and 14 percent of Native 
American men will be raped in their lifetimes, and more than half 
experience intimate partner violence in their lifetimes;
Whereas African-American women experience intimate partner violence at a rate 
9.9 percent higher than that of White women and are 3 times more likely 
to die, but African-American women are less likely than White women to 
use social services or battered women's programs or to go to the 
hospital because of domestic violence;
Whereas, in research conducted by the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based 
Violence, 27.2 percent of Asian women reported experiencing intimate 
physical or sexual violence (or both) during their lifetimes;
Whereas, according to the National Intimate and Sexual Violence Survey, 42.1 
percent of Hispanic women are victimized by intimate partner violence, 
defined by contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking, in 
their lifetimes;
Whereas victims of domestic violence report hesitation calling law enforcement 
and accessing victims services due to uncertainty arising from fear of 
prosecution for unrelated activities, including immigration status;
Whereas the average cost of intimate partner violence over a victim's lifetime 
for medical and mental health care services is $103,767 for women and 
$23,414 for men;
Whereas, of women who die by homicide, 36 percent are killed by an intimate 
partner or former intimate partner, which is 6 times higher than the 
number of men killed by an intimate partner or former partner;
Whereas women victims are more vulnerable to contracting HIV or other sexually 
transmitted infections (STIs) due to forced intercourse or prolonged 
exposure to stress;
Whereas multiple nationwide studies suggest that there is a relationship between 
intimate partner violence, depression, and suicidal behavior;
Whereas 25 to 50 percent of domestic violence victims report that they have lost 
a job due, at least in part, to domestic violence;
Whereas some domestic violence victims who have protection orders or other 
indications that they are victims are evicted from or denied access to 
housing;
Whereas 57 percent of homeless women cite domestic violence as the reason for 
their homelessness, and 80 percent of homeless mothers experience this 
type of abuse at some point in their lifetimes;
Whereas a review of 12 United States studies, most of which included data from 
multiple cities, shows that domestic violence incidents increased 8.1 
percent after jurisdictions imposed pandemic-related lockdown orders;
Whereas 10.7 percent of women and 2.1 percent of men report having been stalked 
by an intimate partner;
Whereas 81 percent of women who are stalked by a current or former male partner 
are also physically abused by that partner;
Whereas, of total domestic violence homicides, about 75 percent of the victims 
are killed as they attempted to leave the relationship or after the 
relationship had ended;
Whereas 99 percent of relationships with domestic violence include financial 
abuse, causing the survivors to stay or return to the abusive 
relationship;
Whereas more than 8,000,000 days of paid work each year are lost due to domestic 
violence issues, and the financial cost of intimate partner violence 
exceeds $12,000,000,000 per year;
Whereas 96 percent of employed domestic violence victims experience problems at 
work due to abuse;
Whereas between 10 to 20 percent of children are exposed to physical intimate 
partner violence each year, and 5.7 percent are exposed to psychological 
intimate partner violence each year;
Whereas children exposed to domestic violence are more likely to attempt 
suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home, and become victims 
of human trafficking;
Whereas, familial trafficking, the exploitation of children or relatives by 
parents, caregivers, or intimate partners, often occurs in households 
where domestic violence is present, creating multi-generational cycles 
of abuse;
Whereas 1 large study found that men exposed to physical abuse, sexual abuse, 
and adult domestic violence as children were almost 4 times more likely 
than other men to have perpetrated domestic violence as adults;
Whereas adults who report multiple types of childhood maltreatment are at 
greater risk of engaging in abusive or neglectful parenting;
Whereas 1 in 10 high school students has experienced violence, either physical 
or sexual, from a dating partner in the past year;
Whereas half of the youth who have been victims of both dating violence and rape 
attempt suicide, compared to 12.5 percent of nonabused girls and 5.4 
percent of nonabused boys;
Whereas there is a need for primary schools, secondary schools, and 
postsecondary schools to educate students about the issues of domestic 
violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking;
Whereas a recently released multistate study shows that the Nation's domestic 
violence shelters are addressing victims' urgent and long-term needs and 
are helping victims protect themselves and their children;
Whereas a 2024 survey by the National Network to End Domestic Violence reported 
that more than 79,000 domestic violence victims were served by domestic 
violence shelters and programs around the Nation in a single day;
Whereas an additional 14,095 requests for services went unmet that day due to 
lack of resources, and 60 percent of these requests were for housing 
needs;
Whereas transgender individuals are 2.2 times more at risk of physical intimate 
partner violence and 2.5 times more at risk of sexual intimate partner 
violence than cisgender individuals;
Whereas a 2018 analysis on the killings of women in 47 major United States 
cities during the previous decade found that nearly half (46 percent) of 
them died as a result of intimate partner violence;
Whereas 61.1 percent of bisexual women, 43.8 percent of lesbian women, 37.3 
percent of bisexual men, and 26 percent of homosexual men experience 
intimate partner violence during their lifetimes;
Whereas domestic violence advocates provide lifesaving, essential services;
Whereas there is a need to increase, not reduce, funding for programs aimed at 
intervening in and preventing domestic violence in the United States; 
and
Whereas October is an appropriate month for the observance of ``National 
Domestic Violence Awareness Month'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This resolution may be cited as the ``Original National Domestic 
Violence Awareness Month Resolution of 2025''.

SEC. 2. SUPPORTING NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH.

The House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Domestic 
Violence Awareness Month''; and
(2) expresses the sense that Congress should continue to 
raise awareness of domestic violence and its devastating 
effects on individuals, families, and communities, and support 
programs designed to end domestic violence in the United 
States.
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