Article written for Columbia University J-School in the fall of 2023

[Unpublished]

November 23 marks the end of the year-long window for adult survivors of sexual violence to bring civil suits against their assailants. As the deadline nears, survivors, advocates and experts are racing against time to find justice.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed the New York’s Adult Survivors Act (ASA) on May 24 of last year, saying, “Today is a righteous day because it is a victory for justice, and it is long overdue.” Six months later, the ASA became active for one year.

The Act allows survivors whose sexual assault happened after they turned 18, and who were assaulted within New York state, to file a civil lawsuit against individuals or institutions that enabled the offense, regardless of a case’s statute of limitations.

Once the year’s window closes, however, the statute of limitations must again be observed, which, for the 20 sexual crimes stated in the New York Penal Law that are applicable to the ASA, is 20 years after an offense.

Because of the legislation’s looming end, navigating the legal process in time can be difficult. Attorneys specializing in sexual violence cases agree: all adult survivors looking for the chance at civil remedies should be well-informed of the ins and outs of filing a suit to benefit most from the Act.

Carrie Goldberg and Susan Crumiller, Brooklyn-based litigators who founded the Survivors Law Project, a starter guide on everything survivors need to know about the Act, write in their handbook, “Pursuing legal claims can be exciting, worthwhile, and transformative. It can also be time-consuming, stressful, and triggering.” The guide covers everything from the possible damages a survivor can win to potential risks she or he could face from filing a case.

One of those risks is a main reason the Act was passed to begin with: the trauma that causes survivors to shut down in the aftermath of sexual violence, making them unable to report their assault.

As Mark Lerner, a clinical and forensic psychologist who often gives expert testimonies in trials related to sexual assault, says, “The aftermath of sexual violence leaves behind emotional scars that demand delicate handling. Forcing survivors into premature disclosure can perpetuate further harm and compromise their healing process.”

Lerner notes that the Act is giving survivors the opportunity to go at their own pace. “From a psychological standpoint, taking a break from the pressure of immediate reporting allows survivors to regain their trust in themselves and the legal system. Without the burden of rushed reporting requirements, they can take the time they need to heal, reclaim their sense of self and speak out without fear or hesitation.”

Since the passing of this legislation, considered part of the ripple effect of the #MeToo movement, over 130 ASA cases were brought to civil litigation by last May, according to a report by the New York State Office of Court Administration. And with recent developments in the respective cases of Robert Hadden, a former gynecologist; and Darius Paduch, a urologist, who assaulted hundreds of patients between them, the number of total cases under the Act is estimated to have climbed to nearly 300 by now.

Modeled after the Child Victims Act (CVA), the ASA also aims at offering a new chance for survivors to find some justice for their assaults. However, unlike the CVA, which was passed in 2019 and extended another year, the Adult Survivors Act is not currently slated for extension past November.

Safe Horizon, an organization that supports victims in abusive situations, played a leading role in the Act’s ratification and continues advocating for its future. Michael Polenberg, VP of Safe Horizon’s Government Affairs, says the organization spent a lot of time “pulling together a dynamic coalition of survivors, advocates and lawmakers to create a campaign to move the bill forward.

“Lawmakers have learned that trauma takes time, and expecting survivors to come forward within a relatively short period of time after their assault does not match many survivors’ experiences,” Polenberg says. “We certainly believe survivors deserve the broadest possible path to justice and would support any legislative effort to either extend the current window or create a new one.”

Alison Turkos, an activist who goes by they, and who worked with Safe Horizon before and after the signing of ASA, says they know exactly what its like to rise out of the other side of sexual assault.

“When that bill was signed, so many of us were just in tears because we knew, right?” Turkos says. “We knew how important it was.”

In 2017, Turkos says, a Lyft driver held them at gunpoint and, with two other men, gang-raped them. Due to memory loss as a result of the trauma — another reason it may take someone a long time before coming forward under the Act — Turkos says it took a few years before they were ready or able file a lawsuit against both Lyft and the NYPD.

Survivors, Turkos says, badly need time to recover enough before they can handle the police or courts. “When people want to access some type of justice, we say no, you have to understand it within a certain allotted amount of time. That’s it. It’s just ridiculous.”

With less than two months until the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, people like Turkos don’t believe that the one-year window is enough to justly address the effects of a survivor’s trauma.

“It’s six years later and I’m still putting the pieces of my life together.”