Survivors of Sexual Abuse Have Six Months Left to Take Advantage of the Adult Survivors Act

NEW YORK, NY (05/22/2023) (readMedia)-- Tuesday, May 23rd, marks six months into the Adult Survivors Act (ASA): a law that provides a one-year look back window for sexual abuse survivors who are outside the statute of limitations to sue their abuser in court. Survivors have only six months left – until November 23rd – in the lookback window to file a civil suit.

Recently, E. Jean Carroll sued Trump under the ASA – and won. Noelle Dunphy is suing Rudy ??Giuliani under the same law. Any survivor who was sexually assaulted when they were 18 years old or older and was time-barred, meaning barred from filing a legal suit due to the statute of limitations, can now file a civil claim, even if the statute of limitation has expired.

"So many courageous survivors fought for this law - it is their powerful voices that made the Adult Survivors Act a reality. Survivors who were sexually abused as an adult in New York have six months left to bring their abuser to civil court – should they choose. We stand in solidarity with all survivors who decide to come forward, like E. Jean Carroll, during the lookback window, and with those who don't, and hope that every survivor is able to find a pathway to healing," said Liz Roberts, Safe Horizon CEO.

Safe Horizon has a 24-hour hotline for New Yorkers in need at 1-800-621-HOPE.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, "E. Jean Carroll's victory against Donald Trump is a victory for all survivors and a testament to the power of the Adult Survivors Act, which opened a one-year retroactive window to revive time-barred claims of sexual abuse. I hope her story inspires the countless survivors out there who have yet to seek justice against their abusers. There are still six months left to file a claim under the ASA. The courthouse doors are open, and New York is finally ready to recognize what happened. Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and I introduced the Adult Survivors Act to bring your stories to light and hold your abusers accountable."

"For far too long, New York State's laws shielded abusers from the consequences of their predatory behavior," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan), Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing. "Now, however, thanks to the Adult Survivors Act (ASA) lookback window, sexual abuse survivors have the opportunity to hold their abuser or the institution that harbored them accountable in court. Whether someone's abuser is a former president of the United States, a high school basketball coach or a family member, survivors have six more months, until November 23, 2023, to seek justice under the ASA. As always, I want to thank the incredible community of advocates and survivors who worked tirelessly alongside me and Senator Hoylman-Sigal to make this law available for so many New Yorkers."

Safe Horizon is the largest nonprofit victims services provider in the country, and spent years advocating for the Adult Survivors Act. In November, Safe Horizon released a PSA campaign designed to inform adult survivors of sexual abuse about their options under the the Adult Survivors Act lookback window. The campaign includes survivors: Evelyn Yang, Drew Dixon, Marissa Hoechstetter, Donna Hylton, Alison Turkos, Audrey Johnson, Robert Bender and Alec Govi, as well as the sponsors of the legislation, Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal. The PSA aired in Times Square for a week in November and currently runs digitally on social media platforms. Over 10,000 people have viewed Safe Horizon's website with more information about the ASA in the past three months. The PSA will air for 12 weeks starting on May 23rd to FY EYE's network of 40 community-based organizations.

The ASA is based on the Child Victims Act (CVA), which both extended the criminal & civil statutes of limitations forward and created a one-year lookback window (later extended due to COVID's impact on the courts) to allow time-barred survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue their abusers & negligent institutions in civil court. Over 10,000 survivors filed civil lawsuits in New York during the two years that the lookback window was open. Safe Horizon also released a PSA for the Child Victims Act (CVA), which applied to survivors who were under 18 years old at the time of their abuse.

Recognizing that the constrained time limits in NY's statutes were not in line with what experts understand about trauma, the legislature in 2019 passed the CVA and extended the civil and criminal statute of limitations for several felony offenses -- including extending the civil statute of limitations for Rape in the second and third degrees prospectively up to 20 years. However, the law does not apply retroactively, meaning that certain survivors who were abused prior to 2019 still have only between 1-5 years to file a civil lawsuit.

The ASA applies to Article 130 crimes, including Rape 2 and 3, criminal sex acts, among others and incest offenses in Section 255. Just like the Child Victims Act, the ASA also waives the 90-day notice of claim requirement to bring a case against a public institution.

The ASA creates new paths to justice for survivors who were denied access to our courts because of an artificially narrow statute of limitations. The law gives survivors, including people who were formerly incarcerated, individuals abused by an intimate partner, and disabled survivors, a much needed chance to hold their abusers accountable.