MassKids is pleased to announce that our legislative advocacy work will now be under the umbrella of the Children's Justice 

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: [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?

"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 21st

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

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

Here’s the latest status on these bills:

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 30th:

  • 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 "Real Teenagers, Fake Nudes: The Rise of Deepfakes in American Schools" - The Daily (New York Times).

 

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

 

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