216.5.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) Sexual assault is a widespread public health epidemic.
(2) An average of 237,868 people 12 years of age or older are raped or sexually assaulted every year in America, which amounts to about one person every two seconds.
(3) In 2016 alone, Child Protective Services agencies substantiated, or found strong evidence to indicate that, 57,329 children were victims of sexual abuse.
(4) One in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually assaulted before 18 years of age.
(5) The effects of child sexual abuse can be long-lasting and can affect the victim’s mental health.
(6) Child sexual abuse victims are about four times more likely to develop symptoms of drug abuse, four times more likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder as adults, and three times more likely to experience a major depressive episode as adults.
(7) In 80 percent of the child sexual abuse cases substantiated, or for which strong evidence was found, by Child Protective Services, the perpetrator was a parent.
(8) Additionally, sexual violence on college campuses is pervasive.
(9) Nineteen percent of women report experiencing completed or attempted sexual assault since entering
college.
(10) Ninety-four percent of women who are raped experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder during the two weeks following the rape, 30 percent of women report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder nine months after the rape, 33 percent of women who are raped contemplate suicide, and 13 percent of women who are raped attempt suicide.
(11) Students are at an increased risk during the first few months of their first and second semesters in college, as more than 50 percent of college sexual assaults occur in August, September, October, or November.
(12) Additionally, domestic violence is widespread and affects individuals in every community regardless of age, economic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or nationality.
(13) One in three women and one in four men in the United States have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
(14) In California, 32.9 percent of women and 27.3 percent of men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence, or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.
(15) A forcible rape occurs every 56 minutes in California.
(16) Domestic violence homicides comprise 11.8 percent of all California homicides.
(17) Domestic violence affects teenagers as well as adults.
(18) Nearly one in 11 female, and approximately one in 15 male, high school pupils report having experienced physical dating violence in the last
year.
(19) About one in 9 female, and one in 36 male, high school pupils report having experienced sexual dating violence in the last year.
(20) Twenty-six percent of women and 15 percent of men who were victims of contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime first experienced these or other forms of violence by that partner before 18 years of age.
(21) Youth who are victims of teen dating violence are more likely to think about suicide, experience symptoms of depression and anxiety, engage in unhealthy behaviors, like using tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, and exhibit antisocial behaviors, like lying, theft, bullying, or hitting.
(22) Additionally, the state is seeing a rise in sexually transmitted
infections (STIs), especially among young people 15 to 24 years of age.
(23) California’s teen birth rate remains higher than that of other industrialized countries, and over 80 percent of births to teens are unintended.
(24) In 2016, the rate of chlamydia in the United States reached its highest level since 1985.
(25) Rates of chlamydia were highest among women 20 to 24 years of age in 2016.
(26) Chlamydia, if untreated, can cause serious complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility in women.
(27) This recent rise in STIs indicates that young people are not aware of how these diseases spread, how infection can be treated to avoid infecting others, or how infection
can be avoided altogether.
(28) Comprehensive sexual health education has been shown to be effective in both delaying sexual activity and increasing condom and contraceptive use among youth who are already sexually active.
(29) Providing young people with effective access to information, treatment, and counseling related to their reproductive well-being can help prevent STIs and unplanned teen pregnancies.
(30) These statistics illustrate the severe public health effects associated with sexual assault, domestic violence, and lack of information about reproductive health.
(31) California has a compelling interest in providing effective education and in intervention programs that help schools reduce barriers to pupils’ and students’ ability to learn.
(32) Because sexual assault, domestic violence, and reproductive health problems have been shown to affect the ability of pupils and students to learn resulting in long standing negative repercussions, the state has a compelling interest in providing resources that can provide information and aid relating to these issues.
(33) California also has a legitimate and compelling interest in protecting the public health of the entire population.
(34) By providing resources directly to pupils and students through a medium that is easily and readily accessible, victims and potential victims can access information and help, without interference from their abuser, who may live in their home or monitor their internet or telephone activity.
(35) Additionally, a more
directed delivery approach for this information is necessary to ensure that victims and potential victims actually receive and have access to these resources.
(36) Information provided through broader methods, such as through general public information campaigns, has proven ineffective in curbing these epidemics.
(37) Providing this information on pupil and student identification cards would ensure that pupils and students have hotline telephone numbers readily available that they can call in times of crisis.
(b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature, in adding Section 217, to provide directed resources to pupils and students in a manner that ensures actual delivery and accessibility in order to protect the public health, promote public welfare, protect young people and vulnerable populations, and reduce
barriers to educational efficacy.