Advocates for survivors of sex crimes had been pushing the measure for years, arguing that sexual trauma often takes time to process.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to sign a bill Tuesday allowing adult survivors of sexual crimes in New York the chance to sue their attackers or institutions that harbored them regardless of when the offense took place.
The soon-to-be law will temporarily lift the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits related to sex offenses perpetrated on someone who was at least 18 years of age, providing a one-year window for those people to sue. It follows the similar Child Victims Act, which lawmakers enacted in 2019 andThe one-year lookback period will begin six months after Hochul signs the bill into law.
The state’s statute of limitations often expires before survivors are ready to move forward, they argued., which ranges from misdemeanor forcible touching to first-degree rape, a class B felony. It also applies to incest crimes. The measure only lifts the statute of limitations for civil claims, not criminal charges.
The vote Monday followed an emotional news conference at the Capitol earlier in the day where multiple state lawmakers told their own stories of being survivors of sexual assault, some sharing publicly for the first time – just as four lawmakers did when they approved the Child Victims Act in in 2019.