In May, Cassie Ventura finished testifying in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial, exposing the years of physical and sexual abuse Combs subjected her to. Ventura first came forward against Combs in a civil suit, made possible by New York State’s Adult Survivors Act that opened up a lookback window for survivors to seek justice for offenses regardless of when the abuse occurred.
With the lookback window now past, survivors are left with few options. New York State law currently does little to encourage survivors to report the crimes against them. And even then, survivors who do come forward in the state are often threatened with defamation lawsuits.
In response, survivors of sexual violence, advocates and lawmakers in New York are calling for legislation that would fill key gaps in the state’s law, making it harder for those accused of sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination to sue their accusers for defamation. The legislation also includes a bill that would give people abused in state custody more time to seek justice.
“If New York truly supports survivors, our laws should make justice in civil court more accessible, not less. Survivors should be able to receive monetary compensation that can aid their healing without having to face onerous legal hurdles. The package of bills we’re urging Albany to pass this session will do exactly that,” said Emily Miles, executive director of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, at a press conference on Friday, May 23, just steps from the courthouses where Harvey Weinstein and Sean “Diddy” Combs are on trial for sex crimes.
The Survivor Justice Agenda is a legislative package including:
- The Speak Your Truth Act would help prevent survivors from being silenced by defamation lawsuits.
- The Fair Access to Justice Act would allow people abused in state custody more time to file a claim against the state.
- A bill that would eliminate the civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases
- A bill that would allow survivors to sue companies and their leaders for failing to supervise the employees who abused them, without proof that the abuse happened on company property
The Speak Your Truth Act
Katie Brennan, who was sued for defamation by a high-ranking government official who sexually assaulted her, went public with her story in October 2018, calling for reform in The Wall Street Journal. “I had access to all of these people in power, and if I couldn’t receive any justice, who could?” said Brennan.
If passed, the Speak Your Truth Act would protect survivors of abuse, harassment and discrimination from being silenced by defamation lawsuits by amending New York’s Civil Rights Law to protect communications about incidents, preventing women like Brennan from being targeted by retaliatory lawsuits.
Retaliatory lawsuits are often used by public figures to threaten and assert control over survivors, a tactic threatened by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is now running for mayor of New York City.
I had access to all of these people in power, and if I couldn’t receive any justice, who could?
Katie Brennan
“You hear about all these NDAs and these lawsuits and Harvey Weinstein, you don’t totally understand what any of that means. And then you go through it, and suddenly you realize this is how Harvey Weinstein happened. This is how somebody is a perpetrator over and over and over again—because we devised these systems to silence survivors,” said Brennan.
The Fair Access to Justice Act
Under the current law, those abused in state custody, like those incarcerated, must sue the state within 90 days of the abuse. The Fair Access to Justice Act would extend that window to three years.
“Losing the right to get justice should not depend on the fact that you have been incarcerated at the time that the crime that was perpetrated against you happened. It’s actually when you’re most vulnerable,” said Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, a sponsor of the Fair Access to Justice Act.
“I was 12 years old when I went to school to tell and I was silenced. I was 20 years old, and I was detained on Rikers Island, and I tried to tell that a captain was causing me harm, and I was silenced. I was actually sent to solitary confinement for doing so… This is why this is so personal for me. This is why these bills are so important,” said Donna Hylton, author and CEO of A Little Piece of Light (both a book and nonprofit), activist, speaker and survivor.
When I was released in 2012 nothing happened. It is now 2025 and we’re still fighting for justice. We’re fighting to be heard. We’re fighting for our basic human dignity.
Donna Hylton
In addition to extending the statute of limitations, the Act would loosen the time, date and location requirements that currently come with filling a claim against the state, a standard that was recently upheld by the New York State Court of Appeals.
“I’ve seen firsthand, women inside prison often cannot speak about their views, sometimes not for years, let alone for 90 days. The fear of retaliation and violence silences survivors,” said Noah Batsheva, founder of Imani Safehouse, advocate and survivor.
Batsheva called for an end to the human rights crisis and reproductive justice issue, noting that many of the women Batsheva supports have lost their childbearing years to incarceration, an issue men don’t experience.
“When I was released in 2012 nothing happened. It is now 2025 and we’re still fighting for justice. We’re fighting to be heard. We’re fighting for our basic human dignity,” said Hylton.
Eliminating the Civil Statute of Limitations for the Child Victims Act
The Child Victims Act, passed by the New York Legislature in 2019, opened a one-year lookback window for survivors to sue their perpetrators regardless of when the abuse happened. The Adult Survivors Act, which follows the same standards, opened a yearlong window in 2022. Under the Adult Survivors Act, survivors came forward in civil suits against both Sean “Diddy” Combs and Harvey Weinstein.
The lookback windows for New York State’s Adult Survivor’s Act and Child Victims Act have since closed, leaving survivors without the ability to seek justice. In addition, New York City’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act, which provided a two-year lookback window to survivors of gender-motivated violence in any of the city’s five boroughs, closed at the end of February.
From 2019 to 2021, 10,783 cases were filed under the state’s Child Victims Act, most of which remain in limbo five years later. The number of people who came forward under both acts show the sheer number of survivors there are, demonstrating the need to eliminate the statute of limitations.
“All the research tells us, and all the people with lived experience tell us that this trauma takes time, and survivors need more years,” said Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, who sponsors the bill to eliminate the civil statute of limitations.
Aiding Survivors in Pursuing Justice Against Companies that Fail to Protect Them
Rosenthal is also sponsoring a bill that would make it easier for survivors to sue companies and their leaders for failing to supervise employees who sexually abuse them.
“How many people in the Weinstein Company were aware of the sexual abuse that was happening, but were silenced by settlement agreements as more survivors have spoken out. In recent years, we’ve seen the disturbing trend of many assaults occurring at hotels in other locations outside the workplace. This is an unnecessary high bar that discourages survivors from coming forward and filing cases,” said Rosenthal.
Rosenthal noted that while New York State has made notable progress towards protecting survivors, it’s important to push for legislation in the wake of the second Trump administration effectively rolling back the rights of survivors across the country.
“Rain or shine, we had to show up. We had to make sure that we continue to push legislation that truly opens those doors, doors to justice and the ability for survivors to be able to speak up,” said Cruz.
