Teach Safe Relationships Act of 2015

Summary: Teach Safe Relationships Act of 2015 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to authorize the Department of Education (ED) to award competitive four-year grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide: (1) professional development to school administrators, teachers, and staff in safe relationship behavior education; and (2) educational programming and curricula for students regarding safe relationship behavior. "Safe relationship behavior education" is&nbsp;education that:  is medically accurate and appropriate for an individual's age, developmental stage, and culture;  promotes safe relationships and teaches students to recognize and prevent coercion, violence, or abuse, including physical and emotional relationship abuse;  includes education regarding communication skills, emotional health, accountability, and well-being in relationships; and  includes education regarding healthy relationships and consent.  ED must provide LEAs with policy guidance regarding safe relationship behavior training and the promotion of safe and healthy relationships. ESEA funds may not be used for sex or HIV-prevention education in schools if that instruction does not include safe relationship behavior education. (Under current law, sex or HIV-prevention education in schools must be age appropriate and include the health benefits of abstinence.)

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Teach Safe Relationships Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION.

    Part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

   ``Subpart 22--Providing Safe Relationship Behavior Education and 
                                Training

``SEC. 5621. SHORT TITLE.

    ``This subpart may be cited as the `Teach Safe Relationships Act of 
2015'.

``SEC. 5622. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    ``It is the purpose of this subpart:
            ``(1) To help ensure that all students receive evidence-
        informed safe relationship behavior education and training, 
        including education and training regarding the prevention of 
        teen and adolescent dating violence or relationship abuse, 
        domestic abuse, and sexual violence and harassment.
            ``(2) To promote safe and healthy relationships between and 
        among students.
            ``(3) To help students and school faculty and staff to 
        develop healthy and respectful attitudes and insights necessary 
        for students to understand themselves in the context of 
        relationships with others and with society.
            ``(4) To provide financial assistance to support local 
        educational agencies in meeting the requirements of title IX of 
        the Educational Amendments of 1972.

``SEC. 5623. FINDINGS.

    ``Congress finds the following:
            ``(1) Educating students about safe relationship behavior 
        will aid in the prevention of unsafe dating practices, 
        including dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
            ``(2) The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
        13925 et seq.) included programs to develop and implement 
        prevention and intervention policies in middle and high 
        schools, including appropriate responses to, and identification 
        and referral procedures for, students who are experiencing or 
        perpetrating domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
        assault, sexual harassment, stalking, or sex trafficking.
            ``(3) Schools can play an important role in providing 
        students with a knowledge base that may allow students to make 
        informed decisions and form a healthy lifestyle.
            ``(4) According to the Department of Justice, there is an 
        average of 293,066 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual 
        assault each year.
            ``(5) Young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience 
        the highest rate of intimate partner violence. According to one 
        national study, 29 percent of the young women surveyed who had 
        ever been in a relationship said they had been pressured to 
        have sex or to engage in sexual activity they did not want.
            ``(6) From 1997 to 2013, females ages 18 to 24 consistently 
        experienced higher rates of rape and sexual assault than 
        females in other age brackets.
            ``(7) Partners of all genders and those in same-sex 
        relationships also experience dating violence. A 2013 survey of 
        grade school students found that 43 percent of lesbian, gay, 
        bisexual, and transgender youth reported being victims of 
        physical dating violence, compared to 29 percent of 
        heterosexual youth.
            ``(8) Experiencing dating violence is associated with an 
        increase in sexual risk-taking behaviors, health risks, and is 
        associated with adolescent and unintended pregnancy.
            ``(9) Teaching and learning practices in the United States 
        frequently do not address safe relationship behavior education 
        and training, for example--
                    ``(A) sex education curriculum should address 
                emotional relationship health;
                    ``(B) sexual harassment undermines the ability of 
                schools to provide safe and equitable learning or 
                workplace environments; and
                    ``(C) classroom textbooks and educational materials 
                do not sufficiently reflect the promotion of safe and 
                healthy relationships.
            ``(10) Efforts to improve the quality of public education 
        must also include efforts to ensure programs for safe 
        relationship behavior training.
            ``(11) Federal support should address not only research and 
        development of innovative model curricula and teaching and 
        learning strategies to promote healthy behavior, but should 
        also assist schools and local communities with implementing a 
        curriculum that includes sexual assault and teen dating 
        violence.

``SEC. 5624. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subpart:
            ``(1) Consent.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `consent' means 
                affirmative, unambiguous, and voluntary agreement to 
                engage in a specific sexual activity during a sexual 
                encounter.
                    ``(B) Limitations.--Consent cannot be given by an 
                individual who is--
                            ``(i) asleep, or mentally or physically 
                        incapacitated, either through the effect of 
                        drugs or alcohol or for any other reason;
                            ``(ii) under duress or experiencing a 
                        threat, coercion, or force; or
                            ``(iii) inferred under circumstances in 
                        which consent is not clear, including the 
                        absence of language or actions that indicate 
                        unwillingness (such as saying `no' or `stop'), 
                        or the existence of a prior or current 
                        relationship or prior or current sexual 
                        activity.
            ``(2) Safe relationship behavior education.--The term `safe 
        relationship behavior education' means education that--
                    ``(A) is medically accurate and appropriate for an 
                individual's age, developmental stage, and culture;
                    ``(B) promotes safe relationships and teaches 
                students to recognize and prevent--
                            ``(i) physical and emotional relationship 
                        abuse; and
                            ``(ii) coercion, violence, or abuse, 
                        including teen and adolescent dating violence, 
                        domestic abuse, and sexual violence and 
                        harassment;
                    ``(C) includes education regarding relationship 
                communication skills, emotional health, accountability, 
                and well-being in relationships, and consent; and
                    ``(D) includes education regarding healthy 
                relationships, including the development of healthy 
                attitudes and insights necessary for understanding 
                relationships between oneself, family, partners, 
                others, and society, including skills on healthy self-
                esteem, and self-efficacy and stress management.
            ``(3) Sexual assault.--The term `sexual assault' means any 
        nonconsensual sexual act proscribed by Federal, State, or 
        tribal law, including when a victim lacks capacity to consent.
            ``(4) Sexual harassment.--The term `sexual harassment' 
        means unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, including unwelcome 
        sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, 
        nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
            ``(5) Sexual violence.--The term `sexual violence' means 
        physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person's will or 
        when or where a person is incapable of giving consent.
            ``(6) Teen and adolescent dating violence.--The term `teen 
        and adolescent dating violence' means--
                    ``(A) violence committed by a person who is or has 
                been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate 
                nature with the victim; and
                    ``(B) where the existence of such a relationship 
                shall be determined based on a consideration of 
                factors, including--
                            ``(i) the length of the relationship;
                            ``(ii) the type of relationship; and
                            ``(iii) the frequency of interaction 
                        between the persons involved in the 
                        relationship.

``SEC. 5625. GRANTS AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) Authority.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants to 
local educational agencies in order to enable such agencies--
            ``(1) to provide professional development to school 
        administrators, teachers, and staff in safe relationship 
        behavior education and teaching and learning practices; and
            ``(2) to provide educational programming and curricula that 
        is age appropriate and developmentally and culturally 
        appropriate for students regarding safe relationship behavior 
        education and training.
    ``(b) Award Basis.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants 
under this section--
            ``(1) on a competitive basis; and
            ``(2) in a manner that ensures that such grants are 
        equitably distributed among local educational agencies located 
        in rural, urban, and suburban areas.
    ``(c) Duration.--Grants awarded under this section shall be for a 
period of 4 years.
    ``(d) Policy Dissemination.--The Secretary shall disseminate to 
local educational agencies any Department policy guidance regarding 
safe relationship behavior training and the promotion of safe and 
healthy relationships.
    ``(e) Use of Funds.--Each local educational agency that receives a 
grant under this subpart shall use grant funds to develop and implement 
curricula for students that--
            ``(1) incorporate elements of effective and evidence-based 
        or evidence-informed programs that include--
                    ``(A) safe relationship behavior training, 
                including for the prevention of teen and adolescent 
                dating violence, domestic abuse, and sexual violence 
                and harassment; and
                    ``(B) education about healthy relationships between 
                oneself and family, others, and society; and
            ``(2) are age appropriate, developmentally appropriate, and 
        culturally and linguistically appropriate, reflecting the 
        diverse circumstance and realities of young people.
    ``(f) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, 
a local educational agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
Secretary may require. Each application shall include a description of 
the local educational agency's--
            ``(1) need for funds provided under this subpart;
            ``(2) plan for implementing the activities described under 
        subsection (e); and
            ``(3) measurable objectives for, and expected results from, 
        the use of funds provided by the grant under this subpart.
    ``(g) Selection of Grantees.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall determine, based on 
        the peer review process described in paragraph (3), which local 
        educational agencies shall receive funding under this subpart, 
        and the amount of the grant funding under this subpart that 
        each selected local educational agency will receive.
            ``(2) Grant amounts.--In determining the amount of each 
        grant awarded under this subpart, the Secretary shall take into 
        account the total amount of funds available for all grants 
        under this subpart and the types of activities proposed to be 
        carried out by each local educational agency, in order to 
        ensure that all grants are of sufficient size, scope, and 
        quality to be effective.
            ``(3) Peer review process.--The Secretary shall convene a 
        peer review committee to review applications for grants under 
        this subpart and to make recommendations to the Secretary 
        regarding the selection of grantees.''.

SEC. 3. GENERAL PROHIBITION.

    Section 9526(a)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7906(a)(3)) is amended by adding ``and safe 
relationship behavior education (as defined in section 5624)'' after 
``abstinence''.