By Bob Katzen
The House and Senate in July approved two different versions of a primary care and health care affordability bill. The House version includes a provision that would eliminate the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. The Senate version does not include that provision. A House-Senate conference committee is working on hammering out a compromise version of the two bills.
Under current law, effective for abuse that took place after June 26, 2014, survivors must sue within 35 years of the abuse, or within seven years of discovering that the abuse caused them psychological harm. However, the clock does not start ticking until the survivor turns 18. In practice, that caps most claims around age 53 and leaves survivors whose window has already closed with no path back into court.
Supporters say the provision would eliminate the deadlines that currently bar many survivors from ever bringing a civil claim. They note the provisions will open a two-year window allowing survivors whose claims have already expired under current law to revive them against both perpetrators and the institutions that enabled or concealed the abuse. Moving forward, it will also allow survivors to sue individuals and institutions responsible for their abuse at any point in their lives, with no filing deadline.
Research cited by Enough Abuse shows that most survivors take years, often decades, to come forward. More than half delay disclosure by five years or more, and the typical age at first disclosure to anyone, including a spouse, is not until the survivor’s 50s. Roughly one in five survivors never disclose their abuse at all. Male survivors tend to wait longest, often more than two decades. Enough Abuse argues that this pattern of delayed disclosure is caused by the abuse itself, through shame, fear and manipulation engineered by an abuser the child is taught to trust, and that a fixed civil deadline modeled on an ordinary accident claim misunderstands the long-lasting harm child sexual abuse causes.
“Speaker Mariano and the House took a meaningful step forward for survivors, and we are deeply grateful for it,” said Jetta Bernier, executive director of Enough Abuse. “Survivors of childhood sexual abuse have waited long enough. The Senate now has the opportunity to stand with the House and make sure [the provision] is part of the final bill that goes to the governor this session.”
“Massachusetts is among the weakest states in the country on this issue,” said Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem), who pointed out that 19 states, two territories and the federal government have already eliminated the civil statute of limitations for some or all childhood sexual abuse claims, and 31 states and three territories have enacted revival windows allowing survivors with expired claims to return to court. “Many abusers and the institutions that protect them have not had to answer for what they did. They’ve just had to wait out the clock and let the statute of limitations run out. That is exactly what this legislation is designed to stop. Survivors in Massachusetts deserve no less than what most states have already done.”