The Manipulation of Legal Remedies to Deter Suits by Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Date
1998
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Northwestern University Law Review
Abstract
Description
This is an Essay about social change and legal backlash. In the past decade, adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse have begun to confront their abusers in court and to demand civil damages for the injuries resulting from that abuse. Because of changes in the statutes of limitations applied to civil sexual abuse cases, these lawsuits can now be brought long after the events transpired, and even in circumstances where the memories of abuse have not been continuous. Thus, for example, children who were subjected to abuse by family members, priests, or teachers, and who for a complex variety of reasons, including repression or dissociative amnesia, did not speak out at the time of the abuse, are now able to hold their abusers accountable. Given the traditional silence about sexual abuse and children's widely-held fear that they would not be believed or would be punished if they 'told,' this marks a substantial turning of the tables. Civil damage suits not only allow survivors to tell their stories; they also enable them to obtain compensation for continuing injuries, including funds to cover therapy and the other assistance survivors need to recover from the psychological damage inflicted. From the point of view of the community, these lawsuits can expose those who have long escaped accountability, punishing past abusers and hopefully preventing those individuals from perpetrating further abuse. These lawsuits put all abusers on notice that they may be called to account for their actions, thus presumably resulting in more general deterrence. Finally, the publicity generated by many of these lawsuits educates the public, helping to dispel the myths that child abuse is either rare or confined to marginal groups in the population. Hopefully, heightened public awareness of child sexual abuse will encourage greater vigilance and increase protective measures against such abuse.
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Keywords
Abuse-sexual, Child development -- memory, Courts, Disclosure -- delayed, Disclosure -- memory, Masha's Law, Testimony, legal