I am a 16-year-old junior at a college preparatory high school here in Honolulu. During February of this year, three boys at my school were questioned by police for catcalling and groping my female friend and classmate. The following week, a fourth boy, uninvolved in the original harassment and assault, approached my same friend, looked her in the eyes, and told her, “I will rape you.” All four boys were immediately suspended but ultimately invited to return.
The mercy and lenient punishment handed to these boys who either committed or threatened to commit sexual assault against a female classmate sends two very clear messages. The first: My school tolerates sexual assault more than damage to school property, possession of alcohol or theft — all of which the Student Handbook shows will warrant immediate expulsion. The second: My school does not see the safety of its female students as a priority.
This not a problem isolated to my school. The same week that my classmates were detained by police, another Honolulu high school made seventh-grade girls who came forward about being raped sit through a talk about self-respect. Days later, Kamehameha Schools settled an $80 million sex abuse case, while another of its faculty members was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a then-14-year-old student. And the list goes on. In the last year, more than 10 huge cases of sexual misconduct at Hawaii K-12 schools — from Oahu, to Maui, to Hawaii island — have made local and national headlines.
Even so, Title IX has focused on colleges. And in the context of college, it has focused on girls’ equal access to sports rather than protections for student victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment and other forms of sex discrimination, which Title IX also prohibits.
Studies show that, nationally, about 20 percent of girls and 5 percent of boys are victims of sexual abuse, with children most vulnerable between the ages of 7 and 13. In Honolulu, children and youth make up the majority of sexual assault victims seen by the Sex Abuse Treatment Center. In the U.S., 44 percent of sexual assaults take place before college enrollment. Children who experience sexual violence are nearly 14 times more likely to experience rape or attempted rape in their first year of college than those who have not. Experts agree that college is far too late to address issues of sexual violence — 1 in 10 people between the ages of 14-21 has already committed an act of sexual violence.
Despite these grim statistics, K-12 schools remain pitifully unprepared and irresponsibly reluctant to act on sexual misconduct allegations by minor students. And the state Senate just killed a bill that proposed to enact a state version of Title IX by prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive state financial assistance.
How am I supposed to focus on classes and my grades if I’ve been assaulted? How am I supposed to compete academically if I’m worrying about the constant threat of assault that comes with being female? I think it’s pathetic that we even have to affirm in law that girls and LGBTQ students deserve a safe learning environment free from bullying, harassment and assault.
But I think it’s even more pathetic that the president of the United States and the U.S. secretary of education are making attempts to remove the protections afforded to vulnerable students. Under constitutional law, it is the duty of the state to enact laws to preserve and protect the safety, health, welfare and morals of the community. So if the Trump administration will not protect me and my classmates from sexual assault and bullying, the state has this responsibility, beginning with passing House Bill 2139 and preserving Title IX protections in state law.
Mackenzie Ozoa is a high school junior from Kailua; Mykie E. Menor Ozoa, her sister, is a recent law school graduate and a core member of AF3IRM Hawai’i.
