Albany, New York – Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan), prime sponsor of the Child Victims Act (CVA) (A.2683/S.2440) today announced that it passed the New York State Assembly today by a vote of 130-3, and will become law once it is signed.

Rosenthal released the following statement:

“Today, after 13 long and hard years of fighting, New York sends an unmistakable message to survivors of childhood sexual abuse: we hear you, we see you and we stand with you.

For years, well-connected and powerful institutions with much to hide blocked passage of the Child Victims Act. As a result, adults who were abused by children were denied justice in the courts and a generation of abusers escaped liability for their crimes. With the passage of the Child Victims Act into law, we throw open the doors to the halls of justice and provide survivors with the clear pathway to legal redress that has been denied to them for too long.

This victory is owed in large measure to the brave women and men, survivors-turned-advocates, who transformed their suffering into activism. These everyday heroes traveled to Albany day after day, year after year, fighting for what they knew was right, regardless of the opposition.

Today is a new day in Albany: the full Legislature has reprised its role as the voice of the people. The Child Victims Act, once it is signed into law, will help give a voice to all those New Yorkers who have for years suffered in silence under the weight of their abuse. I was so proud to have sponsored it in the New York State Assembly.

I thank my colleagues in the Assembly who have voted four times to pass the Child Victims Act into law, and I cannot thank Speaker Heastie enough for his courageous leadership on this issue. I was happy to work with my counterpart in the State Senate, Brad Hoylman, to finally push this bill over the finish line. And from the bottom of my heart, I thank the survivors, whose courage keeps us all going.”