MINNESOTA
Brainerd Dispatch
The sexual abuse of children is a public health epidemic, increasing the risk of alcohol and drug abuse, eating disorders, post traumatic stress and suicide in adulthood. It sometimes takes decades for victims to confront the abuse but our current laws only give victims a narrow window in which to come to terms with that abuse and seek justice against their abusers, treating it essentially the same as fraud and product liability.
Recent surveys show that one out of every two Minnesotans knows someone who has been sexually abused, and that 10 percent of Minnesotans were sexually abused themselves as a child. As a network of advocacy centers across Minnesota which provide support services to victims of sexual abuse, we see the effects of sexual abuse every day.
A bipartisan group of legislators has introduced the Minnesota Child Victims Act (SF 534/ HF 681) that would finally lift the veil of protection that many abusers and the institutions that ignore the abuse hide behind by eliminating the civil statute of limitations.
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