Required topics for sexual abuse prevention lessons

The text as introduced · 513 words

89R3060 RDR-D

By: Menéndez
S.B. No. 196

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the development and use of instructional modules and

training for public schools on the prevention of sexual abuse and

sex trafficking.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 28.017, Education Code, as added by

Chapter 762 (S.B. 2039), Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular

Session, 2017, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 28.017. INSTRUCTION ON PREVENTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND

SEX TRAFFICKING. (a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the

human trafficking prevention task force created under Section

402.035, Government Code, and any other persons the commissioner

considers appropriate, shall develop one or more sexual abuse and

sex trafficking instructional modules that a school district may

use in the district's health curriculum. The modules must [ may ]

include:

(1) information on the different forms of sexual abuse

and assault, sex trafficking, and risk factors for sex trafficking;

(2) the procedures for reporting sexual abuse and sex

trafficking or suspected sexual abuse or sex trafficking;

(3) strategies for sexual abuse and assault prevention

and overcoming peer pressure;

(4) information on establishing healthy boundaries

for relationships, recognizing potentially abusive or harmful

relationships, and avoiding high-risk activities;

(5) the recruiting tactics of sex traffickers and peer

recruiters, including recruitment through the Internet;

(6) the legal aspects of sexual abuse and sex

trafficking under state and federal law; and

(7) the influence of culture and mass media on

perceptions of sexual abuse and sex trafficking, including

stereotypes and myths about victims and abusers, victim blaming,

and the role of language.

(b) The module or modules developed under Subsection (a)

must emphasize compassion for victims of sexual abuse or sex

trafficking and the creation of a positive reentry experience for

survivors of sexual abuse or sex trafficking into schools.

(c) Before the beginning of each school year, a school

district that elects to use a module developed under Subsection (a)

in the district's health curriculum shall provide written notice to

the parent of each student enrolled in the district that includes

the following:

(1) a statement that the district will provide

instruction relating to sexual abuse and sex trafficking awareness

to students enrolled in the district;

(2) a description of the material that will be used in

providing instruction to students; and

(3) a statement that the parent has the right to review

the material and remove the parent's student from the instruction.

(d) If a school district does not comply with the

requirements of Subsection (c), a parent of a student enrolled in

the district may file a complaint in accordance with the district's

grievance procedure developed under Section 26.011.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.