Ohio Senate Education Committee

Ohio Senate Education Committee

Monday, November 28, 2016

House Bill 85 Proponent Testimony

Good afternoon, Chairperson Senator Peggy Lehner, Vice Chair Senator Cliff Hite and Ranking Member Senator Tom Sawyer. My name is Phyllis Carlson-Riehm and I represent ACTION OHIO Coalition For Battered Women, a statewide domestic violence advocacy organization. Thank you for the opportunity to present proponent testimony for House Bill 85, sponsored by Representatives Dan Ramos and Christina Hagan.

House Bill 85requires

• Annual age-appropriate instruction in child sexual abuse prevention for grades kindergarten through six,
• Annual age-appropriate instruction in sexual violence prevention education for grades seven through twelve,
• Training on child sexual abuse as part of required in-service training for teachers and other professionals, including nurses, counselors, school psychologists and administrators (which could increase competency in mandatory reporting of child abuse), and
• Instruction on available counseling and resources for children who are sexually abused.

Although it may seem implausible, children are most apt to be sexually abused by someone they know and trust. Because children are not likely to expect to be harmed by someone they trust, who may care for them and express love for them, children are most vulnerable to sexual abuse by the very people most apt to be perpetrators.

Frequently Ohio media reports incidents of child sexual abuse by relatives, family friends, day care or preschool workers, teachers, coaches and others who regularly interact with children. We need to keep in mind that many cases of sexual abuse are not disclosed at the time and may never surface until the child has grown to adulthood. In the meantime, that experience, or on-going experiences, could have a huge impact on the child’s behavior, school progress, interactions with peers and family members, and his or her health and well being.

We support passage of House Bill 85 because it could help children begin to recognize safety issues and open the door to their disclosing an experience that was uncomfortable for them with an adult or another child. Because a loving, caring parent or other safe adult cannot always be with a young child to protect him or her from harm, there is benefit to helping children understand personal boundaries and learn simple ways to react when a situation is unexpected or puzzling. Furthermore, with technology increasing threats to a child’s safety and making it more difficult for parents to keep kids safe, all reasonable efforts to prevent abuse should be considered.

From 1995-1997 Researchers Dr Robert Anda and Dr Vince Felitti were co-principals in a major study involving 17,000 HMO members of Kaiser Permanente in California. The study determined that “Childhood experiences, both positive and negative, have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity.”

The study is referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACES. And the researchers point out that it is possible to prevent some ACES, or some adverse childhood experiences, which would not only greatly benefit the individual but also benefit our society which must bear the costs for those negative outcomes.

Childhood sexual abuse is one of the ACES identified in the study, which was found to directly impact a child’s future. Aside from being a factor in adverse physical and mental health conditions, childhood sexual abuse has also been linked with sexual abuse and rape victimization in adulthood, as well as sexual assault and other forms of criminal behavior in adulthood.

Although children are typically threatened not to tell about sexual abuse by the perpetrator, sooner or later they may disclose what happened – sometimes as an adult while undergoing therapy for a condition seemingly unrelated. With the benefit of age appropriate education and coaching at a young age, many children couldreveal abuse and get the help they need before becoming adults.

I urge members of the Senate Education Committee to support passage of House Bill 85.This bill will help Ohio’s school children learn ways to protect themselves frombecoming a sexual abuse victim and from experiencing the trauma that accompanies the experience.

Thanks for your attention and consideration of these views.

Phyllis L Carlson-Riehm

Executive Director

ACTION OHIO Coalition For Battered Women

PO Box 423, WorthingtonOH43085-0423

614 825-0551 /

HB 85 Proponent Testimony 11-28-16