The New York State Senate passed legislation on Tuesday, April 26 that would allow a one-year window for adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their abusers, regardless of when the abuse took place.
The future of the Adult Survivors Act is now in the hands of the state Assembly. A similar bill passed the Senate in 2021 but failed in the Assembly. At the time, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes questioned whether the lawsuit window for adult survivors was necessary, according to Ithaca Journal.
The bill is similar to the Child Victims Act, which passed in 2019. The law provided a one-year window for adult survivors to sue their alleged childhood abusers.
The current proposed legislation would expand opportunities for those whose case could not be heard due to the statute of limitations. Supporters include E. Jean Carroll, who accused former President Donald Trump of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1990s, as well as the over 200 women who alleged New York City gynecologist Robert Hadden abused them in his office in the 1990s and early 2000s.
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