Prevention education is an important part of ending child sexual abuse and trafficking. The job of keeping our children safe extends beyond parents and into our school systems. This is why we need your help to pass Colorado’s SB 20.
SB 20 is designed to assist schools with education programs to teach youth, parents, and school personnel ways to prevent and end child sexual abuse. Under the bill, schools would have comprehensive resources for addressing sexual abuse prevention and education programs.
Key components of Colorado’s SB 20:
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- It involves school counselors and trained personnel to educate youth, parents, and educators about the realities of sexual abuse and make available education, prevention, and intervention strategies for students.
- Kindergarten through twelfth grade students will each have an age and developmentally appropriate sexual abuse prevention plan.
- It encourages school districts to provide ongoing professional development opportunities for school personnel concerning sexual abuse prevention, identification, and response methods.
- It requires the Colorado School Safety Resource Center to hire a new staff member whose specific role will be to offer education recommendations and training to teachers, youth, and parents.
In the words of Jennifer Stith, Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault agency member and child sexual abuse survivor, “As a community, we will not tolerate or ignore the sexual violation and exploitation of our most vulnerable citizens—our children. We should have passed legislation like this long ago. The time to act is now.”
SB 20 has passed both Senate Education Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, and proceeded to Senate Appropriations.
