On September 15, 2021, the Minnesota state legislature signed a new bill into law that removes the statute of limitations for sexual crimes. The previous statute only allowed six years for a victim to report. Because of the nature of sexual violence, it often takes victims many years to become able to speak about what happened to them, especially if they were children at the time of the abuse. The statute didn't allow for the healing time of the victim to become ready to take action. 

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In spring of 2019, I was one of three survivors of sexual violence asked to testify in front of the public safety committee as they considered the removal of the existing statute. The bill didn't pass that year, or the next. But both the state house and senate unanimously brought a bill to the floor in 2021 which passed with no opposition.

 

When the MN Child Victims Act was enacted in May of 2013, the law contained a restrictive window that only allowed three years from the time the bill was signed into law for victims of childhood sexual assault, that occurred prior to the enactment, to file under that law.

 

The fear and shame associated with childhood sexual assault often results in the victims silence about their abuse, sometimes for decades. Some victims were fortunate in that the timing of their ability to speak out about their perpetrator was within that three-year window, which provided a legal platform for them to break their silence. People who weren’t ready to take action regarding their own abuse within that window should not be punished because their healing process took longer than the time that was allotted. The ability to file a civil suit gives power back to the victim, and has the potential to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.

 

If you agree that this restriction should be removed from the MN Child Victims Act, you can do something about it. We need to raise awareness about this restriction and get legislators to recognize the importance of removing it from the MN Child Victims Act. Please join in the efforts to bring this issue to the MN State Legislature. There is already DFL party support within the legislature, but the voters need to let them know that this matters, so let them know! To find your representative, click the box below.

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For more information about the MN Child Victims Act, click the buttons below

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