June 12th, 2024

Announcing the Children's Justice Campaign

MassKids and Enough Abuse are pleased to announce the selection of Kathryn
Robb, Esq. as National Director of our new Children’s Justice Campaign, an
initiative working in the states and federally to enact laws that provide
justice for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, hold abusers accountable
and prevent the future sexual abuse of more children.

A national expert on Statute of Limitations reform/elimination, Kathryn
will provide technical assistance, training and support to child advocates
and policymakers to assist them in drafting legislative language,
developing public hearing testimony, and educating the broader public
through opinions in local and national press and appearances on news
outlets across the country.

An outspoken survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Kathryn worked closely in
her native state with lawmakers to finally pass the New York Child Victims
Act of 2019 after a 12-year hard-fought battle. She is a co-founder of New
Yorkers Against Hidden Predators, a coalition of organizations, advocates,
and sex abuse survivors from across that state. Kathryn can be reached
at: [1][email protected].

Advocates and the Media Asking: Why are Child Sexual Abuse Prevention bills
stalled?

Since the 2015/16 Legislative Session, lawmakers have had the opportunity
to pass a package of critical bills to help prevent child sexual abuse in
Massachusetts. With only a few weeks left in the current session,
advocates, survivors, the public and now the media are asking the tough
question – Why aren’t you acting to pass these bills and better protecting
Massachusetts children?

"[2]Why is legislation to prevent sexual abuse in Massachusetts schools
moving so slowly? One bill’s sponsor says she knows why" - The Berkshire
Eagle, May 21^st

"[3]Can a 16-year-old consent to sex with her 47-year-old teacher? State
law absurdly says yes." - The Boston Globe, June 5^th

"[4]Massachusetts can and should move to protect students from sex abuse"
- The Berkshire Eagle, June 1st

Here’s the latest status on these bills:

[5]S314 and H194 would require schools and youth serving organizations to
provide CSA prevention education to employees and students and to adopt
abuse prevention policies - Reported favorably out of two Committees and
currently being reviewed by Senate and House Ways and Means.

S106, H1537 and H1538 would assert that a student in a school or
educational institution cannot consent to sexual relations with an adult
employee in that school and that the student shall have a civil cause of
action against the adult. Reported favorably out of committee and currently
being reviewed by Senate Ways and Means.

The Joint Committee on the Judiciary has extended review of these bills to
June 30^th:
* S1040 would require new standardized protocols to screen prospective
school employees for histories of sexual misconduct and abuse of students.
Schools would have legal immunity for sharing information about an
employee's misconduct and prohibit schools from aiding an employee engaged
in sexual misconduct to secure a position in another school.
* H1537 and H1538 would prohibit sexual abuse of students by employees
at educational institutions and prohibit the age of consent as a defense in
such cases.
* S1036 would impose a prison sentence on adults in positions of
authority or trust who have a sexual relationship with a minor in their
care, and prohibit such adults from using the age of consent as a defense.
* S1038, S1039, H1614 and H1536 would eliminate the civil and criminal
Statute of Limitations on child sexual abuse, allowing survivors to seek
redress in the courts.

H4241, "An Act to Prevent Abuse and Exploitation," amended by S2710, in a
compromise bill filed yesterday, is expected to be sent to the Governor for
her signature in the next few days. The new law will update the definition
of sexual and domestic violence to include “coercive control” and outlaw
"revenge porn" - the non-consensual sharing of sexual images of another
person. Massachusetts had been one of only two states without a law
criminalizing revenge porn. Importantly, for youth charged with
disseminating, producing or possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM),
the bill would establish as an alternative to prosecution, an educational
diversion program for youth on the legal and non-legal consequences of
creating and sharing nude and sexual images, including images altered with
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

This new law will address the growing practice of teens engaged in sexting,
creating exceptions for consensual sharing of sexual images between 16 and
18 year olds, and consequences for those who share another's images without
their consent.This bill also specifies consequences for the production and
distribution of "deepfake nudes" where AI apps are used by teens to create
images of their peers to make them appear to be nude. To learn more about
this disturbing practice, see [6]"[7]Real Teenagers, Fake Nudes: The Rise
of Deepfakes in American Schools[8]" - The Daily (New York Times).

Interested in learning more about the legislation? [9]Do[10]wnload this
fact sheet. You can also watch our [11]Virtual Advocacy Briefing from last
year to hear from legislators and survivors why these bills are crucial.

[12]Donate

Stay connected:

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[13]Website [14]Email Address [15]Facebook [16]Twitter [17]Instagram

References

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