The California Assembly Education Committee has passed Senate Bill 695 on a bipartisan vote of 6-0. Under the legislation, health courses, which are a condition of graduation for a majority of California high school students, will provide instruction on affirmative consent, sexual harassment, assault, violence and the importance of developing positive and healthy relationships.

The bill was jointly authored by Senate Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara).

“The statistics show we are not doing nearly enough. We can and must educate the youth of our state, especially our young men, about affirmative consent and healthy relationships to change behavior toward young women,” de León said.

SB 695 was inspired by the first-in-the-nation “Yes Means Yes” Bill, SB 967, which requires college campuses to adopt consistent survivor-centered sexual assault response policies and protocols that follow professional standards for prevention, access to resources and fair adjudication proceedings.

“It’s no longer acceptable to say ‘boys will be boys’ as an excuse for rape or dating violence,” said Avni Parikh, co-founder of Students for Sexual Respect, an organization seeking to create a consent-based policies. “We need to broaden our perspective beyond college campuses. Between 1995-2013, the highest rate of rape and sexual assault victimizations affected females between the ages of 18 to 24.”

The motion will next be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.