Support Virginia’s Law, Don’t Let Time Run Out on Sexual Abuse Survivors

Supporting the victims of Jeffrey Epstein demands both justice for those who enabled his crimes and systemic changes to ensure it isn’t limited to this specific case. We need Congress to do much more in both these areas. Here’s somewhere to start: right now, federal law gives survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking just 10 years or 10 years after turning 18 to file a civil claim. That means a child abused at age seven must be prepared to go through a full legal fight by age 28. This needs to change. We are functionally putting a cut-off on the amount of time survivors have to process their trauma and still seek justice for it. Furthermore, there are already immense pressures against them speaking up, especially when the perpetrator is powerful, that this expiration date makes even worse. For many of the more than 1,000 women who fell victim to Epstein, the clock hit zero well before they were ready to speak or the world was ready to hear them. It doesn’t have to be this way. "Virginia's Law," S.3815/H.R. 7467, would permanently eliminate the statute of limitations on federal civil sexual abuse and trafficking cases. It would also give those previously turned away a new one-year window to file and close loopholes that let abusers evade accountability by crossing borders. Survivors would be able to get justice on their own time, not on an arbitrary deadline. Please make accountability just a little easier for survivors past, present and future. Co-sponsor and help pass Virginia’s Law.