Erin's Law: Advocating for Sexual Abuse Education in Schools
While researching for our book Helping Kids Rise and Shine: A Tapping Guidebook for Stress, Anxiety, and Bullying, we encountered the excellent work of Erin Merryn, a childhood sexual abuse survivor, advocate, speaker, and author. She is the founder and president of 'Erin's Law', which advocates for child sexual abuse education in public schools.
She wrote and self-published her first book (of three) in 2005, while still in high school, titled Stolen Innocence: Triumphing Over a Childhood Broken by Abuse: A Memoir. Since then, she has been speaking up in public, raising awareness and advocating for changes to laws regarding sexual abuse education in schools and society.
After being told by several US State lawmakers that “we do not talk about this in society, and it will never be taught in school,” it became her mission to implement Erin's Law in all 50 states of the US.
On January 24th, 2013, the State of Illinois, became the first to mandate by law that child sexual abuse prevention education would be taught in public schools.
To date, 38 states of the US have passed this mandate. There are twelve more US States in the tapping process of mandating Erin's Law.
Erin's Law has developed programs for schools to help teach children about:
• Personal Body Safety,
• Speaking up, and
• How to tell the differences between safe and unsafe touch and safe and unsafe secrets.
The Erin's Law website also provides information and guidelines for parents, concerned adults, teachers, and schools to follow when they see or suspect sexual abuse signs. For more information visit website. https://www.erinslaw.org/erins-law/
Kerala, India Becomes First Region Outside the
USA to Implement Erin's Law
Erin's Law is gaining international recognition, with India at the forefront of its implementation. The state of Kerala in India has become the first to legislate a prevention-oriented program on sexual abuse based on Erin's Law within its Constitution.
In August 2022, the Kerala High Court directed the Kerala government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to incorporate compulsory prevention-oriented programs on sexual abuse in every school in the state. The court emphasized that such programs are essential for fulfilling the right to education outlined in Article 21A of the Constitution of India.
The Kerala Court has adopted this approach in response to the increasing number of reported sexual offenses against school children. Access to prevention-oriented programs on sexual abuse is now regarded as essential in efforts to change long-established and outdated behaviors and attitudes towards children and sexuality.
Erin's Law Inspires Education Act
Amendment in Ontario, Canada
Mr. Nolan Quinn, a Canadian politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, along with other legal supporters, prepared and introduced a Private Member's Bill to amend the Education Act regarding child sexual abuse prevention and reporting, known as 'Erin's Law (Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and Reporting), 2023' or Bill 123.
This proposed amendment was put forward to the Ontario Legislature on June 6, 2023, and came into force on 1st September 2024.
The law now requires Ontario school boards to establish policies providing students, parents, teachers, and school administrative staff with resources to recognize and report sexual abuse, with reviews occuring annually.
References:
Merryn, E. (2017). What is Erin’s Law. https://www.erinslaw.org/erins-law/
Erin’s Law Foundation. About Us. https://erinslawfoundation.org/about-us/
Erin’s Law Official Website. Available at: https://www.erinslaw.org/
Gour, P. (2022). Kerala HC: Prevention-Oriented Programs on Sexual Abuse Must Be Set Up. https://lawinsider.in/news/kerala-hc-prevention-oriented-programmes-on-sexual-abuse-facet-ofright-to-education
Government of Ontario. Ontario Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse with the Passing of Erin’s Law. https://nolanquinnmpp.ca/ontario-protecting-children-from-sexual-abuse-with-the-passing-of-erins-law/
Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Hansard Transcript – 4 October 2023. https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/house-documents/parliament-43/session-1/2023-10-04/hansard-1
Paul Boulton and Elaine Gentles
Elaine Gentles is a facilitator and trainer of Paul Boulton’s version of tapping called Targeted Energy Focused Tapping (Targeted EFT), and his life partner. She previously studied PKP Kinesiology with Dr Bruce Dewe, Joan Dewe, and Margaret MacArthur from 2003, graduating with an International Diploma of Kinesiology in 2009. With her experience as a student and practitioner of PKP Kinesiology, she has utilised aspects of therapies developed by Dr George Goodheart, Dr John Thie, Dr Bruce Dewe, Joan Dewe, Dr Roger Callahan, Dr John Diamond, Gary Craig and others. Since experiencing and learning Targeted EFT, she has become passionate about sharing this therapy-based version of Tapping with the world alongside Paul.
