TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Health and Human Services Department to include in their distribution of information about Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) the sexual assault prevention education brochure "Teen Safety."
DISCUSSION
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and as we learn each year, women and in particular young women, are victims of rape or sexual assault. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, in 2005, 92 percent of rape or sexual assault victims were female; those 16-19 years old had the highest rate of sexual victimization of any age group. To help reduce these numbers the Sexual Assault Crisis Agency (SACA) provides prevention education materials to young women in Long Beach.
Concurrently, according to the Centers for Disease Control, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. HPV is believed to be a leading cause of cervical cancer in women, as well as a cause of genital warts. HPV is a common virus and can have few or no symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that by 2005, 20 million people in the United States had contracted HPV. HPV types 16 and 18 cause 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases, and HPV types 6 and 11 causes 90 percent of genital warts cases.
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services distributes information about HPV and the availability of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, which is available through the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department, in conjunction with the Long Beach Unified School District are holding vaccination clinics to provide this important vaccine to young women.
Robin Sinks of the Long Beach Unified School District and Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske recently participated in a community-wide network of providers who bring needed information to students on the issue of violence and sexual assault prevention. The Sexual Assault Crisis Agency (SACA) - one of these prov...
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