A bill proposed Thursday by Democratic state Sen. Andrew Gounardes aims to make it easier for survivors and victims of sexual harassment to share their experiences during civil proceedings in court. 

The measure is meant to close what Gounardes called a "loophole" in the current law that bars survivors and witnesses from providing disclosures in evidence made soon after the fact to others about incidents of harassment. 

“As we have seen over the last year, there are many barriers that all too often prevent survivors of harassment from speaking up and getting justice. This bill will take at least one of those barriers down,” Gounardes said. “It’s our responsibility to listen to those who wish to speak up. The ‘Don’t Silence Survivors’ Act will make a real difference in survivors’ lives, and I look forward to seeing this bill passed into law.”

Assault survivors and victims are able to disclose their experiences to loved ones, as well as independent parties like treatment providers and colleagues, and those dislcosures can be used in evidence. But in civil trials, similar disclosures about sexual harassment are not admissible. 

The proposal is being backed by attorneys who have worked on sexual harassment cases. 

“For centuries, our jurisprudence has been skewed to foster suspicion and disbelief of sexual assault survivors who dare stand before our courts,” said Carrie Goldberg, survivors’ rights attorney and founder of Carrie Goldberg LLC. “Rape cases in fact are not “he said/she said” matters. Rather, what the survivor did and what and with whom she communicated with afterwards is critical evidence that juries deserve to hear.  This bill begins the long overdue process of correcting an evidential deficiency that goes a long way in giving juries the information they need to make a very important decision.”