{"id":52170,"date":"2025-11-25T22:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T22:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/52170\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T22:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T22:19:10","slug":"no-more-hiding-nyc-council-votes-to-reopen-civil-lawsuit-lookback-window-for-sex-abuse-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/52170\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No more hiding\u2019: NYC Council votes to reopen civil lawsuit \u2018lookback\u2019 window for sex abuse claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York City Council<\/a> overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday legislation to restore sex abuse survivors\u2019 ability to bring civil claims under city law and reopen a one-year \u201clookback\u201d window for people whose cases were dismissed after a restrictive court ruling earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Intro 1297,<\/a> which had more than 41 co-sponsors and passed on Nov. 25<\/a> with 48 votes in the affirmative, will clarify that survivors may bring claims under City\u2019s Gender-Motivated Violence Act (GMVA) not only against individual abusers but also against institutions that enabled sexual violence, even when the abuse occurred decades ago.<\/p>\n

If signed by outgoing Mayor Eric Adams before the end of this year, the new filing window is scheduled to run from March 2026 to March 2027, providing survivors with another opportunity to pursue civil justice, including claims against hospitals, corporations, and other entities that facilitated misconduct. A representative for Mayor Adams did not respond to requests for comment on his intention to sign the bill at the time of publication.<\/p>\n

The City Council first enacted the GMVA in 2000 to allow civil lawsuits against people who committed gender-motivated violence. In 2022, the law was revised to hold accountable those who played a role in facilitating abuse.<\/p>\n

But in September, a court ruled that some survivors\u2019 cases were not covered under the statute, leading to the dismissal of pending lawsuits filed by people abused in city-run institutions, including 4<\/a>50 cases involving juvenile detention facilities.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sex abuse survivors \u2018deserve to be heard\u2019: Bill supporters<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s vote followed a press conference in City Hall Park, where survivors, attorneys, advocates, and community leaders spoke about the impact of trauma, the barriers created by statutes of limitations, and the need to hold institutions accountable for harm that was ignored, hidden, or allowed to continue.<\/p>\n

One abuse survivor who had his case thrown out earlier this year, Austin Stevens, said the dismissal \u201cre-traumatized\u201d him and felt like being silenced again. Fighting for the bill, he said, \u201creminded me that I am not alone\u201d and that survivors \u201cdeserve to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took me right back to being a kid. When I was silent about the abuse I went through, because I truly believed no one would believe me,\u201d he said through tears. \u201cSeeing the case, going out, felt like that same silence all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens said he showed up on Tuesday to speak for victims of sexual abuse who died or fell into addiction because \u201cthey didn\u2019t know how to deal with the pain and suffering of being sexually assaulted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LeonLeon Santiago shared how trauma from abuse in a juvenile facility has followed him into adulthoodPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Another survivor, Leon Santiago, who also had his lawsuit dismissed, said the abuse he suffered as a child in a juvenile facility \u201cstayed with me my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shared that a staff member abused him in a way \u201cno child should ever experience,\u201d and that the trauma has followed him through adulthood, resurfacing through pain and triggers. He said he remains grounded by his 14-year-old daughter and the stability he has built through his job.<\/p>\n

The passage of Intro. 1297, he said, \u201cgives me a real chance for my case to move forward\u201d and is \u201canother step in my healing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Queens Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers, who introduced the bill, said survivors should never have lost their chance at justice because of a loophole.\n<\/p>\n

She called the vote a \u201cpowerful day\u201d belonging to \u201cevery survivor, every advocate, every attorney, every organizer and every New Yorker who refused to give up the fight for justice.\u201d The bill, she said, \u201crestores survivors\u2019 rights, reopens the GMVA lookback window and makes absolutely clear that institutions cannot hide behind legal technicalities to escape their responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CouncilCouncil Member Selvena Brooks-Powers and attorney Jerome Block lead Tuesday\u2019s press conference, flanked by survivors and advocates, ahead of the City Council vote to restore GMVA claims.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell \"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Advocacy organizations also voiced support. Emily Miles, executive director of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, called the vote a moment that \u201crevives civil pathways for people harmed by gender-motivated violence\u201d and enables claims \u201cagainst the institutions that played a pivotal role in allowing that abuse to take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New York State Trial Lawyers Association, which has been a consistent advocate for survivors in Albany, called the Council\u2019s action \u201ca major step toward accountability, healing, and systemic reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board member Judy Livingston said the vote reflects a justice system that acknowledges the impact of trauma rather than cutting off claims before survivors are prepared to come forward.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSurvivors deserve a justice system that recognizes the reality of trauma, not one that shuts the courthouse doors before they are ready to step forward,\u201d said Livingston.\n<\/p>\n

Jerome Block, a partner at Levy Konigsberg, called the vote on Intro. 1297 \u201ca victory for survivors,\u201d saying it showed that \u201cdemocracy is working\u201d as the Council moved to amend the GMVA.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSurvivors deserve accountability,\u201d said Speaker Adrienne Adams following the vote. \u201cMany New Yorkers know or love someone who has been affected by gender-motivated violence. Accountability is a key part of the road to recovery, and why the Council advanced this bill to empower survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Intro. 1297 is enacted, anyone harmed by a person who commits, directs, enables, participates in, or conspires to commit a gender-motivated violent crime can file a civil lawsuit.\n<\/p>\n

The legislation states that claims must be filed within 18 months of the law\u2019s effective date. Those who filed claims between March 1, 2023, and March 1, 2025, may amend or refile their cases to include a cause of action under the new provision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York City Council overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday legislation to restore sex abuse survivors\u2019 ability to bring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5568,301,28956,28957,9,11,10,28791,11315],"class_list":["post-52170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-child-sex-abuse","tag-city-council","tag-gender-motivated-violence-act","tag-gmva","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-selvena-brooks-powers","tag-sex-abuse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}