Report Title:

Task Force to Review Issues Relating to Age of Consent

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, issues relating to the appropriate age for consensual sex, especially as it relates to minors, is fraught with emotion and controversy; and

WHEREAS, the issues are also part of a complex entanglement of other, often subjective, issues relating to family matters, personal privacy, moral and or cultural standards, physical and emotional health, and criminal conduct; and

WHEREAS, although few would argue that the protection of the emotional and physical well-being of minors should be a primary goal, there is much disagreement and differing viewpoints concerning how best to achieve this goal; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has the lowest "age of consent," for purposes of avoiding prosecution under statutory rape provisions, of any state in the nation; and

WHEREAS, in Hawaii, a minor age fourteen or older may legally have consensual sex, whereas most states set the age higher at between sixteen to eighteen years of age; and

WHEREAS, during this Regular Session of 2001, approximately fifteen bills were introduced proposing various changes to the age of consent; and

WHEREAS, although several of these bills have survived first crossover, the difference of opinion over how best to approach this issue remains apparent; and

WHEREAS, even the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law, while recommending the protection of minors through the age of fifteen from consensual sexual intercourse with adults age twenty or older, nevertheless recommends that all relevant perspectives be represented on a jurisdiction wide task force to improve communications and understanding of the appropriate role of the criminal justice system with respect to the issue of minors engaging in consensual sexual relations; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Coalition for the Prevention of Sex Assault is requested to convene a task force to engage in a comprehensive review of the issues, and the differing viewpoints, concerning the age of consent for consensual sex conduct, particularly as it relates to minors in sexual relationships with adult partners; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the review also include:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Coalition for the Prevention of Sex Assault is requested to provide funding for the task force's expenses; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the government agencies that are members of the task force are requested to provide funding for their own expenses, respectively; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to include representatives from the Judiciary, the Department of Health, the Department of the Attorney General, Department of Public Safety, the county prosecuting attorney's offices of each county, the county police departments of each county, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center, the Hawaii Family Forum, Sisters Offering Support, the military community in Hawaii, the faith community in Hawaii, Sex Assault Coalition, Child Sex Abuse Treatment, immigrant service provider, League of Woman Voters, Catholic Charities (child sex abuse treatment program), Children's Advocacy Center, Office of Youth Services, Hawaii Family Forum, and Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution is requested to assist the task force in conducting meetings and coming to a consensus; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Coalition for the Prevention of Sex Assault is requested to report the findings and conclusions of the task force to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Coalition for the Prevention of Sex Assault for transmission to each member of the task force, and to the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution.