The Michigan House of Representatives will vote on legislation to educate and protect children from sexual abuse Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Beckie Francis, the Oakland University women’s basketball coach, will testify in support of the legislation, known as Erin’s Law, on Tuesday in Lansing.

Francis came forward in October as a victim of childhood sexual abuse as a way of creating awareness and support. She has been working with advocate Erin Merryn, who spoke on campus earlier this semester, to pass the law in Michigan.

The law is pending in Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Mississippi, Georgia, Pennsylvania and New York.

If passed, Erin’s Law would create a task force of experts to address school boards regarding child sexual abuse and the districts would then create age-appropriate curriculum. Merryn is a survivor, having been sexually abused from ages 6 to 13, from Schaumburg, Ill. She has advocated the passage of protection laws in Illinois, Maine, Indiana and Missouri.

The legislation was passed unanimously in the state Senate July 18, despite concerns about local funding. To pass in the House, Erin’s Law (Senate Bill 1112) must be approved by a majority of the 110 members of the Michigan House of Representatives.

Senator John Proos and Merryn testified in support of Erin’s Law. Merryn testified in July, and sharing her experience as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse from to draw attention to the need for education. She refers to sexual abuse as the “silent epidemic,” citing that one in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually assaulted by age 18.

“Nobody was asking those important questions: safe touch, unsafe touch, safe secrets, unsafe secret,” Merryn told the Senate. “I was being trained on tornado drills, bus drills, fire drills — I knew how to run out of a burning building but I didn’t know how to tell the secrets I was keeping as a young child … we teach kids about ‘stranger danger,’ yet 93 percent of the time, children are sexually abused by someone they love and trust.”