Martin Luther King, Jr. has inspired many, including myself. When I founded Advocate for the Innocent, my main goal was to prevent child molestation and abuse permanently. One effective way of implementing this goal is to provide “body safety” education for every child because statistics indicate that 95% of child sexual abuse is preventable through education and awareness.1 Our mission is to ensure that every child is properly educated to prevent child molestation and abuse.
Throughout my journey, I’ve learned that this goal may be more difficult to implement than first anticipated. Erin’s Law requires that all public schools in each state implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program that teaches PreK-12 grade students, age-appropriate techniques to recognize child sexual abuse.2 However, the law does not provide a specified curriculum. It provides core components from which each school or district can craft an effective and comprehensive child sexual abuse prevention program.3
Each state, district or region can determine specific content in their curriculum. The National Sex Education Standards were developed by the Future of Sex Education (FoSE) Initiative, a partnership between Advocates for Youth, Answer, and SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change to create a national dialogue about the future of sex education and to promote the institutionalization of quality sex education in public schools. This curriculum not only teaches about sexual abuse prevention but also includes sexual agency, availability of sexual and reproductive healthcare, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, sexual identity and the principles of reproductive justice.4
Based on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Illinois State Board of Education’s grant Title IV, Part A provides funding to keep students safe and healthy. Illinois spent $11M in 2023 towards this initiative, but the law does not require allocation specifically for child sexual abuse prevention.5
The first challenge we face is laws may be enacted, but not enforced. Erin’s Law is a good example because it requires mandatory education, but is only being implemented in 38 states. Rosa Parks is another great example of someone who demanded laws be enforced, not just enacted. For those who believe in justice, let’s take action to ensure Erin’s law is not only enacted, but enforced. If you are interested in becoming a member and gaining access to our Resource Center ($10/month or $99/annually), visit https://advocatefortheinnocent.org/memberships/ to learn more.
1 – https://laurenskids.org/
2 – https://www.erinslaw.org/erins-law/
3 – https://www.erinslawillinois.org/erins-law/the-key-components-of-erins-law/
4 – https://siecus.org/resource/national-sex-ed-standards-second-edition/
5 – https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Title-IV.aspx#:~:text=Title%20IV%2DA%20Public%20Reporting&text=Access%20to%20a%20well%2Drounded%20education%2C,students%20(ESEA%20Section%204101).