Bass Votes to Support Survivors of Child Sex Abuse

Press Release

Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed earlier this week S. 3103, the Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill the Congresswoman is a cosponsor of the House companion. The bill now heads to the President's desk.

"Child sexual abuse is at epidemic proportions with 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 13 boys being abused before their 18th birthday. The science of traumatology is clear -- it can take years for survivors to come forward," said Rep. Bass. "In recognition of that reality, this commonsense, yet vitally important change will allow survivors of child abuse to bring claims when they are ready. My hope is they will now be able to take steps towards healing, while still having their day in court."

The Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2021 ensures survivors of child sex abuse can seek justice without being barred by statutes of limitations and enable survivors to seek civil damages in federal court for different types of child abuse offenses no matter how long it has taken the survivor to process and disclose the abuse they have suffered.

The legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: CHILD USA, RAINN, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV).

Background
According to CHILD USA, the National Think Tank for Child Protection, data suggests that 86 percent of child sexual abuse goes unreported. For victims who do report their abuse, "delayed disclosure," or the tendency of survivors of child sex abuse to wait for years before disclosing abuse to others, is common. One study of more than 1,000 survivors found that the average age of survivors at the time of disclosure was about 52 years old.

Historically, delayed disclosure has impacted survivors' path to justice. Survivors often were barred from civil and criminal remedies at the time they disclosed their abuse due to statutes of limitations (SOLs) that did not consider evidence regarding delayed disclosure. In recent years, however, many states have expanded opportunities for victims to access justice by lengthening SOLs. Since 2002, 48 states and Washington D.C. have amended their child sex abuse laws to expand or eliminate SOLs in varying degrees.

Under current federal law, no statute of limitations bars the prosecution of criminal offenses involving child sex abuse anytime while the child victim is alive or 10 years after the offense, whichever is later. However, statutes of limitations remain an obstacle for survivors under the federal civil remedy statute. While Congress in 2018 lengthened the SOL for federal civil child sex abuse claims until the victim reached age 28 or until 10 years from the discovery of the violation or injury, this SOL still does not reflect the current state of research on delayed disclosure. Under the bill that now heads to the President's desk, statutes of limitation will no longer serve as a bar to claims brought by survivors of child sex abuse under the federal civil remedy statute.

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