ENDING STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS LAWS IN RAPE AND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE (CSA)
- Rape and Child Sexual Abuse are nationwide problems. The vast majority of sexual abuse never gets reported.
- Current SOL laws favor the Perpetrators over the Victims. In some states, the statute of limitations is too short for many victims, who often find the courage to speak out and confront their abuser or recover painful buried memories of abuse only after the statute of limitations has run out.
- Identifying Predators. Eliminating the SOL laws in rape and CSA allow the disclosure of the identity of previously unknown predators to the public so others will not be abused in the future. Rapists and Predators generally have more than one victim. While criminal SOLs can not be retroactive, civil SOLs can be. Publicly identifying predators could have the dual benefit of bringing justice to victims and preventing future abuse by the same perpetrator.
- Justice. Remedy the wrong done to sexual abuse survivors caused by an overly short statute of limitations that placed predators and their enablers in a preferred position to the victims and give sex abuse survivors their day in court.
Learn more about Statute of Limitations Laws Reform at our partnering organization, SOL-Reform. SOL-Reform is an online advocacy platform designed and overseen by Professor Marci Hamilton and her Cardozo Law School students. Through legislative updates and tools to take action, it is the most comprehensive website about Statute of Limitations for child sex abuse for the public, the media, scholars, and survivors. Here, you can find out what laws exist in your state, and contact your legislators to vote for laws that protect survivors, and give them the opportunity to get the justice they deserve.