By Samantha Max, November 27, 2023
“While the window to file sexual assault lawsuits under the Adult Survivors Act closed on Thursday, there may be another option for some accusers looking to sue after the usual deadline for bringing a claim has expired.
The state Adult Survivors Act created a one-year window in which people could bring civil sexual assault lawsuits, even decades after the alleged conduct occurred and after the applicable deadline for filing a claim had expired.
The City Council approved a separate measure in 2021 that does something similar, creating a two-year window for alleged victims of gender-based violence to sue, even if the filing deadline, or statute of limitations, had passed. That deadline isn’t until March 2025.
Not all sexual assault survivors would be eligible under the city law. They would have to prove that someone used violence against them because of their gender.
But unlike the Adult Survivors Act, which focused specifically on allegations of sexual offenses, the city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act (also known as the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law) also allows people who have been injured in other ways due to gender bias to file lawsuits.”