After more than an hour of testimony and committee discussion, legislation intended to require Utah’s middle and high school health curriculum to include information on sexual violence prevention and the legal and personal implications of sharing sexually explicit images was held in committee.
The House Education Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to hold HB344 in the committee so it did not receive a vote on whether to send it to the House for further consideration.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Carol Moss, D-Holladay, said she has sponsored similar legislation three times because youth need more information about how to protect themselves from sexual violence, avoid being victimized by predators and other youth sharing sexually explicit images of them, and learn how to access sexual assault resources.
Utah has a higher rate of sexual violence than the national average, Moss said, adding that 1 in 3 women in Utah will experience sexual violence in their lifetime and 1 in 6 women in Utah will experience rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.
“The statistics are telling us that we’re not doing a good job. Yes, parents should do these things,” Moss said, talking about teaching children about these risks. “But are they?”
A number of high-profile Utahns spoke in favor of the bill, including Rabbi Avremi Zippel, who is a survivor of child sexual abuse and an activist for sexual violence survivors, and Deondra Brown, a survivor of child sex abuse and rape as a college student. She is part of The 5 Browns, a classical piano ensemble comprised of her and her siblings.
Brown said the issues raised in the bill “could have very realistically impacted my experiences as a child and as an adult survivor of sexual assault. I would have had the strength and clarity of mind to know I was being taken advantage of at different points of my life. And I would have known I had a right to stand up for myself,” she said.
The Brown sisters were molested by their father as children. In 2010, the siblings sought criminal charges against their father, who had also been their professional manager.
Corrine Johnson of the parents rights organization Utah Parents United, spoke against the bill, noting that some rationalize expanding sex education in schools because parents don’t teach it at home.
“We need you as legislators to invite us in. This bill does not do this. It does not educate parents. It replaces parents. We need to work together to find a way to educate and empower parents and law enforcement,” she said.
Some lawmakers spoke against the bill arguing that middle and high school health standards adopted by the Utah State Board of Education already enable health educators to teach these topics.
Moss said some health educators do but the point of the legislation was to ensure that all health educators address these topics.
Under Utah law, sex education in Utah middle and high schools are opt-in, which means parents must give their consent for their child to receive the instruction.