Bill Text: HI HR113 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recognizing The Public Health Crisis In Regards To Pornography.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-14 - Referred to HLT, JUD, referral sheet 30 [HR113 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-HR113-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	113
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

RECOGNIZING THE PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS IN REGARDS TO PORNOGRAPHY.

 

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, pornography creates a public health crisis that perpetuates a sexually toxic environment, contributes to the hyper sexualization of teens, and even prepubescent children, in our society and increases feelings of isolation and breakdowns; and

 

     WHEREAS, efforts to prevent pornography exposure and addiction, to educate individuals and families concerning its harms, and to develop recovery programs must be addressed systematically in ways that hold broader influences accountable;

and

 

     WHEREAS, it is vital that children and the youth do not become desensitized to graphic, sometimes aggressive sexual imagery that exposes them to dangerously unrealistic portrayals and expectations of intimate nature; and

 

     WHEREAS, children as young as 9 and 10 are exposed to pornography at an alarming rate and it has become easily available due to new technologies, mass production at a low cost, and the universal access to the internet and social media; and

 

     WHEREAS, this early exposure leads to low self-esteem and body image disorders, an increase in problematic sexual activity at younger ages, and an exacerbated desire among adolescents to engage in risky sexual behavior which often serves as children's and youth's sex education and shapes their sexual templates; and

 

     WHEREAS, pornography can detrimentally impact brain development and functioning, contribute to emotional and medical illnesses, and lead to difficulty in forming or maintaining intimate relationships. In certain instances, overcoming the harmful effects of pornography exposure is beyond the capability of the afflicted individual to address alone; and

 

WHEREAS, this biological addiction leads to increasing risky behaviors, extreme degradation, and violence. Pornography contributes to normalizing violence, objectifying people, and has a detrimental effect on the family unit; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, that pornography is a public health hazard leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms, and that it recognizes the need for education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level in order to address the pornography epidemic that is harming the people of our state and nation; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education, the Director of Health, the President of the Hawaii Association of School Psychologists, and the President of the Hawaii State Parent Teacher Student Association.

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pornography: a public health hazard for individuals and society