San Francisco Students To Learn About Sex Trafficking, History Of 'Comfort Women'
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – San Francisco middle and high schools are developing lessons on how to identify child sex trafficking.
In October, the San Francisco Board of Education passed a resolution directing the school district to develop age-appropriate curriculum to teach students how to recognize the signs of human trafficking as part of their health education classes.
"Trafficked youth don't often recognize that they are trafficked." Board President Emily Murase. "Our schools are an important part of a community wide effort to ensure vulnerable youth get the support and services they need."
Board Commissioner Sandra Lee Fewer told KCBS the curriculum isn't just about the students. "It also includes training administrators and principals about this issue, and how to recognize signs of it. And also our first-line healthcare providers, such as our school nurses and our social workers," she said.
Schools will also teach the history of so-called "comfort women" - Korean, Chinese, and Filipina women who were sold into sex slavery by the Japanese military in World War II.
San Francisco is also working on building a comfort women memorial and creating additional recognition, according to Supervisor Eric Mar. "I also want to make sure, besides a memorial curriculum, that there is a day of remembrance," said Mar. "That we come together to celebrate people standing up for themselves and speaking truth to power and about history."
The new school curriculum should be in place at the start of the next school year.
