Advocates for the victims and survivors of sexual abuse have launched a campaign to highlight the rapidly approaching one-year lookback window for filing a lawsuit.
The campaign includes a video and a photo campaign in Times Square that will also run on social media platforms.
The lawsuits are enabled under the Adult Survivors Act, a measure approved in Albany earlier this year that allows for sexual abuse survivors to sue their abuser in court, or the entities that may have enabled the abuse to take place. The measure is based on the Child Victims Act, which allowed survivors of childhood abuse to file lawsuits.
"The ASA will allow survivors who have been burdened for so long by their pain to rebuild and heal in a world that finally acknowledges their truth and their trauma," said Drew Dixon, a survivor. "The opening of this lookback window is a parting of the clouds for victims of sex crimes in New York, and I'm so grateful for it."
The campaign will feature survivors of sexual abuse and is meant to inform fellow adult survivors of their options about the year-long window that is about to open this week even if the statute of limitations has expired. The window for filing lawsuits under the Adult Survivors Act will open on Thursday, Nov. 24. It will close in 12 months by Nov. 23 of next year.
"So many courageous survivors fought for this bill - it is their powerful voices that made the Adult Survivors Act a reality." said Liz Roberts, the CEO of the organization Safe Horizon. "We stand in solidarity with all survivors who choose to come forward during the lookback window, and with those who don't, and hope that every survivor is able to find a pathway to healing."