Petition calling on the Government of Saskatchewan to amend the Education Act, 1995, to establish a statutory, school-board-level duty to provide annual child sexual abuse prevention and reporting education. This is modelled after how Ontario passed Erin’s Law by mandating that school boards have the duty to support child sexual abuse prevention and reporting through school staff, parents and guardians, and pupils.

"This amendment would support the model used in Ontario, where school boards may engage qualified third-party educators such as the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to deliver child sexual abuse prevention and reporting education. The training provided will draw on curriculum-aligned resources already present in Saskatchewan’s Health Education curriculum."

We, the undersigned residents of the Province of Saskatchewan, wish to bring to your attention the following:

·       Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is highly underreported

·       Experiencing CSA can lead to long‑lasting traumatic stress that continues well into adulthood.

·       Most victims of CSA know their abuser, including family

·       This is not part of sexual education. It’s simply teaching children boundaries and providing them a space to disclose the abuse

·       Erin’s Law has prompted countless children to come forward and disclose that they were being sexually abused

·       Many children are not aware that what is happening to them is wrong and teaching them safe touch/safe secrets would address that

·       Many parents do not have conversations with their children about boundaries, because they don’t know how to speak with them in an age-appropriate manner

·       Since this is a taboo subject, many parents don’t know the signs of abuse or know how to handle disclosures

We, in the prayer that reads as follows, respectfully request that the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan:

Call on the Government of Saskatchewan to amend the Education Act, 1995, to prevent and report childhood sexual abuse. Teachers will be provided with lesson plans through the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which will empower educators, parents and children to address childhood sexual abuse.

Here is the link to the MLA List in Saskatchewan. I urge you to contact your local representative and have your voice heard.

https://www.legassembly.sk.ca/mlas/