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Bill could help Guam address criminal sexual conduct cases
Joe Taitano II
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A bill to require defendants charged with criminal sexual conduct to undergo testing for HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases at the request of victims could help the island address criminal sexual conduct cases, according to testimony on the proposal.
While providing victims of criminal sexual conduct an avenue to determine potential exposure to STDs early on, it would also help the island comply with a nearly $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to the Bureau of Women s Affairs. A condition of the grant is that Guam meets certain requirements concerning HIV testing of defendants charged with sexual offenses.
It started as a civics class proposal when Shruti Gautam was a freshman. It was something I always kind of noticed was missing, Shruti said. It was a problem for my friends.
The problem? The lack of feminine hygiene products in Columbia Public Schools.
Her idea was to stock all-female student restrooms with free feminine hygiene products or in plainer terms, menstrual products or period products. I just think that it s a basic human right to take care of your body, said Shruti, now a 17-year-old senior.
She took her idea to teachers, to janitors, to Jen Rukstad, who then was Rock Bridge principal, and then to Chief Equity Officer Carla London and Superintendent Peter Stiepleman. They allowed her to conduct a pilot project at Rock Bridge, she said.