HR0994 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0994 LRB096 21520 GRL 38301 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor accomplishments in the lives of citizens of the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Engel, a devoted activist in the area of violence against women and girls for 35 years, has won the Civic Engagement, Community Service and Community Organizing Award from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Gender and Women's Studies Program; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Engel worked with a small group of advocates in 1983 to draft and help enact into law groundbreaking Illinois sexual assault legislation; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Engel has been reappointed by every Illinois Governor since 1991 to the board of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, where she serves as a public voice for victim services; and

WHEREAS, In 1993, Barbara Engel was asked by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to write an innovative sexual harassment policy for the City of Chicago and develop an implementation strategy; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Engel was a pioneer in the anti-rape and domestic violence movements; she served as director of a rape crisis center and created the first sexual assault prevention program for the Chicago Public Schools; she is also the co-author of protocols for the treatment of rape survivors and battered women in hospital emergency rooms and protocols for the Chicago Police Department's response to rape survivors - which have since become national models; and

WHEREAS, In an effort to forge a bond between the worlds of research and practice, Barbara Engel served as an advisor to the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study and co-authored a publication titled "The Chicago Women's Health Risk Study: Lessons in Collaboration" in Violence Against Women; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Engel has taken on the cause of restorative justice by working to reform and transform the juvenile justice system and strengthen the ability of communities to resolve conflicts peacefully; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Engel is a co-founder of the Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, a group that advocates for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli/Palistinian conflict; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Engel has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Women's Bar Association of Illinois' Stephany Nawyn Visionary Award and the Glady Isser Award by Shalva; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Barbara Engel for winning the Civic Engagement, Community Service and Community Organizing Award from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Gender and Women's Studies Program and wish her continued success in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Barbara Engel and the University of Illinois at Chicago's Gender and Women's Studies Program as a symbol of our affection, gratitude, and respect.