Key States Currently Considering the Child Victim Act
For more information on reforming statutes of limitation for child sex abuse and efforts in other states, please visit one of our advocacy partners at www.SOL-Reform.com
Need Help?
If you are victim or adult survivor seeking assistance, please refer to our Connect Directory for a full listing of organizations that can provide help.
The Problem
The sexual abuse of children is a public health epidemic in the United States. Recent child sex abuse cases at Penn State University, the release of documents concerning sexual abuse and the Boy Scouts and consistent reports of abuse within institutions are recent examples.
Research has shown that as many as one in four women and one in five men suffered abuse as a child and that almost 90% of abuse never gets reported. Those that do come forward find themselves barred by the legal technicality of a statute of limitation. Considering how long victims often take to find the courage to speak out, statutes of limitation are woefully short and act as an arbitrary barrier to justice.
All news
City Hall rally to be held Friday in support of eliminating statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases, New York Daily News, March 7, 2013
New York state lawmaker Margaret Markey will hold a rally and press conference outside City Hall on Friday before a Manhattan hearing on her Child Victims Act, which would eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations in sex abuse cases.
The speakers will include Kevin Mulhearn, the attorney who represented 12 men in a sex abuse suit filed against Poly Prep Country Day School, and Phillip Culhane, one of the plaintiffs in the case. Markey, a Democratic assemblywoman from Queens, has said the bill was inspired in part by the Poly Prep, Syracuse and Penn State scandals.