BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
The implementation of
“look-back windows” — a
set period where a victim
of abuse is permitted to fi le
a claim no matter when the
abuse occurred — in legislation
aimed at holding violent
offenders accountable is
providing survivors sexual
abuse avenues to seek justice.
When New York state
opened a one-year, one-timeonly
limited period during
which victims of childhood
sexual abuse may fi le civil
claims against the alleged
abusers and enabling institutions
that failed to protect
children from predators in
the New York’s Child Victims
Act — cases skyrocketed.
The law changed the statute
of limitations for such
crimes, raising the age —
from 23 to 55 — by which a
person must fi le a civil claim
for sexual abuse they experienced
younger than 18. It
also created a temporary
period during which people
older than 55 could also sue
for childhood abuse.
In the two years leading
up to Aug. 14, 2021, when the
look back offi cially closed,
survivors of child sexual
abuse fi led more than 8,263
civil suits in New York
against their alleged abusers
and the institutions that
employed them. Seven days
later, that total jumped by
nearly 1,000 to 9,241, according
to data from the state’s
Offi ce of Court Administration.
A similar rise in cases
could happen after the New
York City Council successfully
passed a bill on Dec. 9
to create a 2-year look back
window to the Gender–Motivated
Violence Act, that
advocates say will give survivors
of a gender-based violence
more time to process
their trauma and pursue
civil action, if they choose.
Intro 2372-B, which was
sponsored by councilwomen
Carlina Rivera, a Manhattan
Democrat, and Selvena
Brooks-Powers, a Queens
Democrat, say the new
change will allow survivors
of gender-based violence to
seek legal recourse even after
According to the impact survey released in New York City in September 2021, COVID-19 resulted in an increase
in unreported instances of gender-based violence. Photo courtesy Getty Images
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D 20 EC. 17-23, 2021 BTR
the statute of limitations
has run out.
The bill is now awaiting
approval from either outgoing
Progressive Mayor Bill
de Blasio or his successor,
moderate Democrat Eric Adams.
The state defi nes genderbased
violence to include
intimate partner violence,
family violence, elder abuse,
sexual violence (which can
include sexual harassment),
stalking and human traffi
cking.
According to the impact
survey launched by the
Mayor’s Offi ce to End Domestic
and Gender-Based
Violence in Sept. 2021, COVID
19 pandemic resulted in
an increase in unreported
instances of gender-based
violence and responses to
the survey indicate that
through the pandemic, survivors’
experiences of abuse
grew worse, as did their fi -
nancial, work and housing
situations.
New York’s Gender-Motivated
Violence Protection
Act allows victims to bring
civil lawsuits under a sevenyear
statute of limitations.
Hurdles still remain for
sexual assault survivors
who report
Council passes look back
for gender-based violence