If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s what Rep. Ken Ivory had to do in his attack on the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse.
In 2015, Ivory set out to abolish the statute of limitations for civil actions initiated by victims of childhood sexual abuse. Current law only allowed claims for four years after an 18th birthday. The 2015 legislation excised that four year requirement, but it only applied to cases going forward. The law still prohibited older cases where victims were already over the age of 22.
Last year Ivory convinced the Legislature to pass HB279, which revived older cases and gave victims three years from May 2016, or until 35 years after their 18th birthday, to file, whichever was later.
Ivory deserves credit for first abolishing the limit, and then reaching back and helping those women who were sexually abused as children but who could not face a public lawsuit until many years later.
Statutes of limitations exist to ensure that evidence in legal cases is trustworthy. As years pass, eyewitnesses forget important details, or physical evidence deteriorates. But if police reports exist, or if church leaders punished abusers and have records of that punishment, concerns about faulty evidence are limited.
There are many reasons why a person might wait to sue a sexual predator. As the legislation itself states, “Research over the last 30 years has shown that it takes decades for children and adults to pull their lives back together and find the strength to face what happened to them.”
It is oftentimes shameful and embarrassing to admit that you were molested as a child. Of course the victim has nothing to be ashamed about, but most feel shame anyway.
It took Elizabeth Smart 15 years to get to a place where she was comfortable enough to collaborate on a television show depicting her experience. Smart was 14 when she was first raped. She is 29 now. She recently revealed that she had considered suicide after her ordeal. She now works as an advocate for sexual assault survivors.
It takes time.
It is also very traumatic to relive past trauma. In a lawsuit, victims have to face their accusers and provide details about what happened and how many times it happened. It’s hard to resurrect such difficult memories.
Rep. Ivory got it right with this legislation, and Utah women can now stand up for themselves and bring abusers to justice.
If you know someone who was abused as a child, tell them they have a chance at justice. If they’re older than 53, remind them they have 18 months left. Support them. Believe them. Love them.