Content warning: sexual abuse 

The Justice for Survivors Act, or AB 452, seeks to permanently abolish the statute of limitations in California to open the doors to justice for childhood survivors of sexual abuse.

AB 452 was introduced by state Senator Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and state Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay. The bill is a byproduct of AB 218, which suspended the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse cases for three years while it was in effect, according to Founding President of Dordulian Law Group Samuel Dordulian. When AB 218 expired Dec. 31, the statute of limitations reverted to the age of 40.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, support coordinator Melanie Sakoda said the issue with the temporary opportunity presented by AB 218 is that people are not always ready to come forward or they simply miss the deadline.

“It takes an extremely long time…