The author and founder of a law that requires education for K-12 students on how to prevent child sexual abuse is calling on residents to help get it passed in Wisconsin before a deadline this month.
Erin’s Law requires annual training to teach kids how to identify and report unsafe touch and behaviors. Erin Merryn created the law and has been trying to get it passed in Wisconsin for 10 years.
She stressed that the curriculum is not sex education but focuses on body safety training, giving children the tools to identify and speak up about abuse.
"We teach and mandate in schools across America, including Wisconsin, tornado drills, bus drills, fire drills, mass shooting drills," she said. "Children are far more likely to be sexually abused than any of those things I just mentioned."
Wisconsin lawmakers could vote on Erin’s Law on March 17, but Merryn said Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, has not yet placed the bill on the calendar. With 17 of 18 Republican senators needed to pass the bill, she urged residents to contact lawmakers to ensure the measure is brought to a vote and approved.
Wisconsin is one of 12 states that have yet to adopt Erin’s Law. Merryn said she’s fought to get it passed across the country, and after years of advocacy, New York finally passed the bill in 2019. As a result, more children came forward to report they had been sexually abused, including those from Northwood Elementary School in Buffalo.
"And that is the example I point out to these other state legislators: Look what happened in New York," she said. "There were 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds that testified against the principal that weren't even born or were toddlers that could have been prevented from being abused. But that bill was killed year after year and these children suffered."
Merryn said last year, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction concealed nearly 200 cases of teacher misconduct and abuse. She stressed there's never been a more urgent time to mandate body safety education in Wisconsin schools.
"There are monsters living in the state of Wisconsin, silencing kids right now," she said. "And I can guarantee you when they finally pass this, I will be sending them that news article of that child that comes forward as a result of this being passed, and why I don't give up."
Opponents of the bill have said they are against sex-education school mandates and question funding for implementation. Merryn said she offers a free curriculum online through the Erin's Law Foundation.
