| 47 | | - | SECTION 1. The legislature finds that sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. According to a 2018 report published by Arizona State University and the Hawaii state commission on the status of women, one out of every eleven adult male residents of Hawaii are online sex shoppers. The report also estimated that there were 74,362 potential sex buyers in Hawaii at the time of the study. Moreover, during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, a service provider for sex trafficking victims in Hawaii reported seeing a three hundred per cent increase in demand for services, which included trauma-informed care. The legislature further finds that education ends exploitation. By empowering students to protect themselves from harm and build healthy relationships; training school staff in how to respond to at-risk youth in a trauma-informed manner; and creating sexual health programs that include information about sex trafficking, schools can equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to prevent themselves from becoming victims of sexual exploitation, as minors and upon reaching adulthood. The purpose of this Act is to protect Hawaii's public school students from sexual exploitation by requiring the department of education to offer training to teachers and school staff on how to prevent and respond to potential cases of sex trafficking. SECTION 2. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§302A- Sex trafficking prevention training. (a) The department shall offer training for teachers; educational officers; and school-based personnel including behavioral health specialists, security, custodial, and support staff on sex trafficking prevention and response, including: (1) Methods used to lure children into sex trafficking; (2) Identifying victims of sex trafficking; (3) Effects of sex trafficking on a victim's social, mental, and physical health; (4) The impact of sex trafficking on children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities; (5) Strategies to assist in the prevention of sex trafficking of children; (6) Trauma-informed strategies for responding to victims of sex trafficking; (7) Informational resources for victims of sex trafficking; (8) Information on victim service providers that provide services to students who have been identified as victims of sex trafficking or who are at risk of victimization; and (9) Information about the importance of enthusiastic consent in preventing sex trafficking and sexual violence. (b) At the beginning of each school year, explanatory information about protocols that the department has approved for providing services to victims of sex trafficking shall be made available to teachers; educational officers; and school-based personnel including behavioral health specialists, security, custodial, and support staff. (c) The department may coordinate and contract with any state or county department or agency, any victim service provider, or any other expert in the field of sex trafficking prevention and response to implement this section. (d) As used in this section, "victim service provider" means any nongovernmental organization that provides direct intervention, social, medical, mental health, legal, case management, educational, emergency, or housing services to victims of sex trafficking." SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2051. |
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| 47 | + | SECTION 1. The legislature finds that sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. According to a 2018 report published by Arizona State University and the Hawaii state commission on the status of women, one out of every eleven adult male residents of Hawaii are online sex shoppers. The report also estimated that there were 74,362 potential sex buyers in Hawaii at the time of the study. Moreover, during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, a service provider for sex trafficking victims in Hawaii reported seeing a three hundred per cent increase in demand for services, which included trauma-informed care. The legislature further finds that education ends exploitation. By empowering students to protect themselves from harm and build healthy relationships; training school staff in how to respond to at-risk youth in a trauma-informed manner; and creating sexual health programs that include information about sex trafficking, schools can equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to prevent themselves from becoming victims of sexual exploitation, as minors and upon reaching adulthood. The purpose of this Act is to protect Hawaii's public school students from sexual exploitation by authorizing the department of education to offer training to teachers and school staff on how to prevent and respond to potential cases of sex trafficking. SECTION 2. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§302A- Sex trafficking prevention training. (a) The department may offer training for teachers; educational officers; and school-based personnel including behavioral health specialists, security, custodial, and support staff on sex trafficking prevention and response, including: (1) Methods used to lure children into sex trafficking; (2) Identifying victims of sex trafficking; (3) Effects of sex trafficking on a victim's social, mental, and physical health; (4) The impact of sex trafficking on children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities; (5) Strategies to assist in the prevention of sex trafficking of children; (6) Trauma-informed strategies for responding to victims of sex trafficking; (7) Informational resources for victims of sex trafficking; (8) Information on victim service providers that provide services to students who have been identified as victims of sex trafficking or who are at risk of victimization; and (9) Information about the importance of enthusiastic consent in preventing sex trafficking and sexual violence. (b) At the beginning of each school year, explanatory information about protocols that the department has approved for providing services to victims of sex trafficking may be made available to teachers; educational officers; and school-based personnel including behavioral health specialists, security, custodial, and support staff. (c) The department may coordinate and contract with any state or county department or agency, any victim service provider, or any other expert in the field of sex trafficking prevention and response to implement this section. (d) As used in this section, "victim service provider" means any non-governmental organization that provides direct intervention, social, medical, mental health, legal, case management, educational, emergency, or housing services to victims of sex trafficking." SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2051. |
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