Text of HI SB 453 (2025)

THE SENATE S.B. NO. 453 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SEX TRAFFICKING. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. The legislature finds that sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. According to a 2018 report published by Arizona State University and the Hawaiʻi state commission on the status of women, one out of every eleven adult males living in the State is an online sex shopper. The report also estimated that there were 53,541 potential sex buyers in the State at the time of the study. Moreover, during the COVID-2019 pandemic, a service provider for sex trafficking victims in the State reported seeing a three hundred per cent increase in demand for services, which included trauma‑informed care. The legislature further finds that education ends exploitation. By empowering students to protect themselves from harm and build healthy relationships, training school staff in how to respond to at-risk youth in a trauma-informed manner, and creating sexual health programs that include information about sex trafficking, schools can equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to prevent themselves from becoming victims of sexual exploitation as minors and upon reaching adulthood. Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to protect the State's public school students from sexual exploitation by requiring the department of education to offer training to teachers and school staff on how to prevent and respond to potential cases of sex trafficking. SECTION 2. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§302A- Sex trafficking prevention and response training. (a) The department shall offer training for teachers, educational officers, and school-based behavioral health specialists on sex trafficking prevention and response, including: (1) The methods used to lure children into sex trafficking; (2) How to identify victims of sex trafficking; (3) The effects of sex trafficking on a victim's social, mental, and physical health; (4) The impact of sex trafficking on children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities; (5) Strategies to assist in the prevention of sex trafficking of children; (6) Trauma-informed strategies for responding to victims of sex trafficking; (7) Informational resources for victims of sex trafficking; (8) Information on victim service providers that provide services to students who have been identified as victims of sex trafficking or who are at risk of victimization; and (9) Information about the importance of enthusiastic consent in preventing sex trafficking and sexual violence. (b) The department shall make explanatory information about the protocols approved by the department for providing services to victims of sex trafficking available to teachers, educational officers, and school-based behavioral health specialists at the beginning of each school year. (c) The department may coordinate and contract with any state or county department or agency, victim service provider, or other expert in the field of sex trafficking prevention and response to implement this section. (d) As used in this section, "victim service provider" means any nongovernmental organization that provides direct intervention, social, medical, mental health, legal, case management, educational, emergency, or housing services to victims of sex trafficking." SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. INTRODUCED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: DOE; Sex Trafficking Prevention and Response Training Description: Requires the Department of Education to offer training for teachers, educational officers, and school-based behavioral health specialists on sex trafficking prevention and response. The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.