Erin’s Law pushes states to mandate child sexual abuse prevention education in public schools

CHICAGO (InvestigateTV) — Child sexual abuse is a major problem nationwide, and in many cases the victim will never come forward.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 20 boys and one in four girls experience child sexual abuse — but those numbers are likely underestimated due to underreporting, especially among boys and men.

The abuse can result in short- and long-term physical, mental and behavioral health consequences, sexually transmitted infections and substance misuse.

For years, Erin Merryn was one of those victims. Her trauma eventually triggered a lifelong mission to push states to pass laws requiring sexual abuse prevention education in schools.

A secret kept in a diary

Merryn was 11 and 12 years old when she says she was repeatedly sexually abused by an older cousin. She said she kept the secret out of fear instilled by her abuser.

“’You will destroy our family. You’ve got no proof that I’m doing this to you.’ So I stayed silent,” Merryn said.

Her only confidant was her diary.

She said the abuse stopped when Merryn discovered her cousin was also abusing her younger sister.

“We told my parents the very next day. My mom bawled. My dad left work, and I’ll never forget sitting there in the kitchen. And the first words as my dad is coming in, ‘Why didn’t you tell me he was doing this to you?’ Never forget him telling me that. And I looked at him and said, ‘Because he told me you wouldn’t believe me,’” Merryn said.

That moment led to a realization: no one had ever talked to her about child sexual abuse, about safe and unsafe touch.

“The only education I got was to keep it a secret, so I did, and I was abused for six and a half years,” Merryn said.

Merryn also disclosed that years before her cousin abused her, she was abused by a friend’s uncle at a sleepover. The realization that she did nothing wrong set her on a mission to make sure every child knows what to do, how to get help, and how to make it stop.

What Erin’s Law requires

“Erin’s Law requires once-a-year personal body safety education taught in public schools,” Merryn said.

Illinois was the first state to pass the law, mandating one hour of instruction during the school year. The main focus is explaining safe and unsafe touch and guiding children on how to report abuse.

As of 2025, Merryn said, 38 states had her law — or something like it — on the books.

Gaps remain

Jetta Bernier, executive director of Enough Abuse, a nonprofit dedicated to ending child sexual abuse, applauded Merryn’s work but said more needs to be done.

“We know that education is critical not only for personnel who work in schools, employees, but also for the students and for parents as well,” Bernier said.

According to Enough Abuse, 10 states only encourage child sexual abuse education in schools, and at least four — Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Arkansas — have never introduced legislation about it.

InvestigateTV reached out to lawmakers in those states who chair their education committees and could propose this law. None responded to questions or requests for interviews.

Bernier said resistance sometimes comes from a reluctance to open the door to broader sex education discussions.

“There are some states that I would venture have not even wanted to approach this because they believe that it’s part of sex education. And they just don’t want to open that door,” Bernier said.

Wisconsin stalls

One state that does not mandate the education is Wisconsin. In 2025, the state Assembly passed Erin’s Law, but it needs Senate approval — and state Senate leaders said that is unlikely.

“We don’t want to mandate how local schools are teaching this,” state Sen. David LeMahieu, R-Wis., said.

Evidence it works

Despite the gaps, Bernier said momentum is building.

“There’s momentum now. We know that,” she said.

Merryn points to a striking example from New York. After the law passed in 2019, nine children came forward in a single day from one school after learning Erin’s Law.

“One night in 2021, I am suddenly opening up my email to dozens of news alerts in Rochester, New York, of nine kids coming forward in one day out of one school after learning Erin’s Law,” Merryn said.

The principal of that school was convicted of sexually abusing 21 students over seven years.

“I want to save children from that same thing,” Merryn said.

Multiple states have laws for sexual abuse prevention education called something other than Erin’s Law.

About Erin’s Law

Learn more about Erin’s Law and which states have passed it here.