GRAND RAPIDS (MI)
WLNS [Lansing MI]
January 2, 2025
By Byron Tollefson
Advocates are wondering what’s next after a set of bills that would have given sexual assault survivors in Michigan more time to come forward failed to pass the legislature before the end of the year.
The “Justice for Survivors” package, SB 1187 through 1192, would have extended the civil statute of limitations for sexual assault survivors, giving them more time to report after processing what happened.
The current statute of limitations for child sexual abuse survivors to bring civil action goes until their 28th birthday, or three years after realizing they were a victim of criminal sexual conduct. The bills would have extended it up to 10 years after the incident, seven years after a survivor realizes they were the victim of a crime or their 52nd birthday, whichever comes latest.Why survivors of sexual assault may take time to report
“For so many survivors, coming to terms with what’s happened and being in a position to tell their story and to finally seek justice from a position of healing is so important,” said Charisse Mitchell, the CEO of YWCA West Central Michigan, which supports domestic violence and sexual abuse survivors.
“This package of bills really allowed that time and space for survivors to get to that space,” she added. “The trauma of sexual abuse, particularly people who have suffered abuse as children, really sometimes doesn’t come to light and really doesn’t get to a place of understanding until you’re an adult when you’ve had an opportunity to seek therapy.”
Mitchell said sexual assault survivors relived their trauma as they shared their stories in front of state lawmakers in hopes of getting the bills passed. The bills passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote on Dec. 13. But because of legislative gridlock and stagnation in the weeks that followed during the lame-duck session, the bills never got a vote in the House.
“The fact we missed that opportunity and may have to start this process all over again and tell survivors, ‘Tell us your story one more time, relive that trauma one more time,’ they shouldn’t have to do that,” she said.
Mitchell said these bills were critical for survivors in their healing journeys, and she’s wondering why politics got in the way.Former Boy Scout: Michigan law is keeping abuse victims from full payouts
“It’s just unfortunate we find ourselves in that 11th hour where the stakes are so high for survivors that their lives, their health and wellbeing got caught up in a legislative process,” she said.
The legislation would have also opened up a one-year window for survivors to sue for damages even if the statute of limitations had closed. It would have also eliminated the civil statute of limitations entirely when there’s a criminal conviction.
“When you’ve come to terms with it, when you understand what’s happened to you and when you’re in a position to actually understand and seek justice, you want to have a justice system, a community system, that allows and participates in that healing for you,” Mitchell said.
With divided government back in Lansing in 2025, the future for the legislation is unclear. But because it had bipartisan support, Mitchell remains hopeful.
“2025 should be the year we finally say all of your hard work, all of your suffering, all of the narrative that you have shared were not in vain,” she said.