To: Board of Supervisors
From: Marla Stuart, Employment and Human Services Director
Report Title: Proclaim January 2025 as Stalking Awareness Month
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ADOPT a resolution declaring January 2025 as Stalking Awareness Month in Contra Costa County as recommended by the Employment and Human Services Director.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No fiscal impact for this action
BACKGROUND:
Stalking Awareness Month is a national campaign dedicated to raising awareness and the public’s understanding of the stalking. This is the first National Stalking Awareness Month proclamation by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.
For 2025, the theme for Stalking Awareness Month is “KNOW IT, NAME IT, STOP IT”, emphasizing the collective responsibility of advocacy and support services, legal systems, victims, survivors, their friends, and family to recognize and address stalking.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
None.
CHILDREN’S IMPACT STATEMENT:
This resolution supports all five of Contra Costa County’s community outcomes of the Children’s Report Card: (1) “Children Ready for and Succeeding in School”; (2) “Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood”; (3) “Families that are Economically Self-Sufficient”; (4) “Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing”; and (5) “Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life for Children and Families.”
The Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County, California
body
IN THE MATTER OF proclaiming January 2025 as Stalking Awareness Month in Contra Costa County:
WHEREAS, since 2004, January marks National Stalking Awareness Month, a critical time to recognize and respond to the serious, traumatic, and dangerous victimization of stalking, characterized by intrusive, persistent, and often obsessive pursuit behaviors; and
WHEREAS, the theme of this year’s National Stalking Awareness Month is “KNOW IT, NAME IT, STOP IT,” emphasizing the collective responsibility of advocacy and support services, legal systems, victims, survivors, their friends, and family to recognize and address stalking; and
WHEREAS, stalking encompasses a wide range of behaviors and is generally defined as a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear or emotional distress, with common tactics including unwanted calls, texts, emails, messages, uninvited visits, spreading rumors, and following or watching the victim; and
WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men in the United States experience stalking in their lifetimes. As per the Stalking Prevention and Awareness Resource Center, stalking is one of the top ten risk factors for intimate partner homicide increasing the risk by three times; and
WHEREAS, survivors of stalking often suffer from anxiety, social dysfunction, severe depression, loss of work time, and may even be forced to relocate, underscoring the need for better recognition and response to this crime; and
WHEREAS, stalking often intersects with other forms of interpersonal violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and elder abuse; and Contra Costa County provides support for stalking survivors through community-based organizations such as the Family Justice Center (510-974-7200) for all forms of stalking, STAND! For Families Free of Violence Crisis Line (1-888-215-5555) for stalking involving domestic violence, and Community Violence Solutions Crisis Hotline (1-800-670-7273) for stalking involving sexual assault and/or human trafficking.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: that the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaims January 2025 as National Stalking Awareness Month in Contra Costa County and urges all residents to learn more about stalking, support victims, and promote awareness to prevent this crime.
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