Resolution Designates Nov. 20 – Dec. 20 as National Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month

Resolution Text (PDF)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) reintroduced a Congressional resolution to honor survivors of homicide victims by establishing November 20 – December 20^th as National Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts currently recognizes these dates as Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month, and in 2022, the Boston City Council passed an ordinance led by Councilor At-Large Julia Mejia in support of Rep. Pressley’s resolution at the federal level. The Congressional resolution was first unveiled in2022.

“Families and survivors of homicide victims deserve our unwavering recognition and healing. Their trauma is not just a statistic—it’s a profound reality that must never be normalized or overlooked,” said Rep. Pressley. “Our resolution to establish National Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month honors the survivors of homicide victims and sends a powerful signal that we see them, their experiences are real, and we will not stop fighting to advance healing and stop the public health crisis that is gun violence. I am grateful for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and Senator Markey for their partnership on this critical resolution, and I urge Congress to pass it without delay.”

“Gun violence has become an all too common tragedy for families across the country. The mental trauma that gun violence inflicts on survivors and victims of homicide is unimaginable,” said Senator Markey. “I am proud to reintroduce this Senate Resolution to create a National Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month and amplify the efforts of survivors and advocates to heal the harm that gun violence inflicts on our society. We must support families impacted by homicide with resources to help alleviate any economic and informational burdens they may face when navigating the aftermath of homicide. This resolution is a first step in ensuring families get the respect and support they need.”

Notably, for every one homicide victim, there is an average of 10 surviving family members who suffer their loss in the aftermath of homicide. The resolution seeks to promote awareness of the intergenerational, traumatic, and lasting impacts of gun violence on families and broader communities. The resolution specifically:

1. Encourages support for survivors of homicide victims, including families, schools, and communities, with support services, information, and research to better address the needs of families and communities severely impacted by violence and to consider ways to improve access to, and the quality of, mental health services for survivors of homicide victims.
2. Calls on the people of the United States, interest groups, and affected persons to take an active role in the fight to end gun violence and homicide; to respond to all families suffering in the aftermath of homicide with consistency, compassion, competence and centering the principles of love, unity, faith, hope, courage, justice, and forgiveness; and to observe National Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month with appropriate activities.

The resolution is supported by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, a healing and trauma support center based in Dorchester, Massachusetts, focused on caring for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss.

“We are grateful to Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pressley for their leadership in listening to, and aligning public policy with, the needs of crime victims. We have long known that when survivors speak, change happens, and a federal resolution recognizing Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month amplifies and reaffirms our nation’s commitment to helping crime victims seek justice and healing,” said Pace McConkie Jr., Policy & Advocacy Manager, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. “Hundreds of thousands of families across our country live with the grief and trauma of losing a loved one to violent crime, and it is critically important — this holiday season, and in all seasons — to recognize their experiences and pain. Working within our communities to truly hear what survivors are saying, to honor the dignity of every life lost, and to prevent further cycles of violence, makes our nation stronger, more compassionate, and more just.”

A copy of the resolution can be found here.

Congresswoman Pressley is a long-time champion for gun violence prevention and supporting those experiencing trauma. She currently serves as a member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and she helped pass  H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, and H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act – two long-overdue, bipartisan gun violence prevention bills.

Throughout her career, Congresswoman Pressley has been a strong advocate for trauma-conscious policymaking.  In February 2023, she celebrated the passage of her Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act, bicameral legislation to expand mental health support for survivors of natural disasters and terrorist attacks that are designated emergency declarations by FEMA. It was signed into law by President Biden in December 2022.

In June 2022, Rep. Pressley applauded the House’s passage of gun violence prevention legislation, the Protect Our Kids Act and the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act. In a House Oversight and Committee meeting, Congresswoman Pressley called for meaningful policy action to combat the uniquely American gun violence epidemic and rejected suggestions by Republican lawmakers that arming teachers and funding more school police is the answer to ending mass shootings. 

In June 2021, Rep. Pressley reintroduced the STRONG Support for Children Act, her landmark legislation that takes a holistic and community-based approach to addressing the growing crisis of childhood trauma. 

In March 2021, Rep. Pressley sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to address the nation’s growing trauma crisis and laying out a series of steps the administration should take to confront the far-reaching hurt plaguing our communities and our nation.  In April, she published an op-ed where she reflected on the collective pain experienced by communities in her district over the past year. 

In July 2019, Rep. Pressley worked with Chairman Cummings to convene the first-ever Congressional hearings on childhood trauma.  Watch Congresswoman Pressley’s full question line and follow-up questions here and here. 

As a Boston City Councilor, she convened the Council’s first-ever listening-only session to hear directly from those impacted by the trauma of community gun violence.

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