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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
URGING THE ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO PASS HB4312/SB3020 AN ACT CONCERNING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
WHEREAS, electronic harassment is a rapidly expanding tactic employed in domestic violence to establish power, control, and intimidation over a partner. This form of technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) is prevalent, with studies indicating its occurrence in over 90% of gender-based violence cases; and
WHEREAS, abusers employ digital tools to monitor, track, and isolate victims, effectively replicating traditional abusive tactics through technological means; and
WHEREAS, digital abuse instills a pervasive sense of "omnipresence," causing the victim to experience constant surveillance and a heightened sense of insecurity, even in physically isolated situations; and
WHEREAS, online abuse often precedes or coincides with physical violence. Harassment, including persistent threats or doxxing, can rapidly escalate into real-life danger; and
WHEREAS, common digital tactics employed include incessant threatening texts and emails, image-based abuse (sharing intimate photographs without consent or "revenge porn"), controlling smart home systems (locks, thermostats), and impersonation; and
WHEREAS, electronic harassment is increasingly recognized by law as a form of domestic violence, frequently resulting in legal repercussions for the perpetrator; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported a 110 percent increase in domestic-related deaths in 2023 in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) indicates that 41 percent of women and 25 percent of men experience sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime; and
WHEREAS, HB4312/SB3020 seeks to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 and the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, including changes to the definitions of "harassment" to include, amon...
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