Sex Abuse Epidemic

Brainerd Dispatch
March 6, 2013

http://brainerddispatch.com/opinion/open-forum/2013-03-06/sex-abuse-epidemic

The sexual abuse of children is a public health epidemic, increasing the risk of alcohol and drug abuse, eating disorders, post traumatic stress and suicide in adulthood. It sometimes takes decades for victims to confront the abuse but our current laws only give victims a narrow window in which to come to terms with that abuse and seek justice against their abusers, treating it essentially the same as fraud and product liability.

Recent surveys show that one out of every two Minnesotans knows someone who has been sexually abused, and that 10 percent of Minnesotans were sexually abused themselves as a child. As a network of advocacy centers across Minnesota which provide support services to victims of sexual abuse, we see the effects of sexual abuse every day.

A bipartisan group of legislators has introduced the Minnesota Child Victims Act (SF 534/ HF 681) that would finally lift the veil of protection that many abusers and the institutions that ignore the abuse hide behind by eliminating the civil statute of limitations.

This legislation not only respects and acknowledges the healing process, it allows survivors to confront the abusers or the institutions that facilitated the abuse on their own timetable. The Minnesota Child Victims Act encourages victims of child sex abuse to come forward and potentially identify abusers who have never been brought to justice.

Seeking justice and protecting children is not a partisan issue, it is a moral issue that should unite us all. A diverse coalition of child advocacy organization and law enforcement officers has endorsed the Minnesota Child Victims Act. We encourage the legislature to join us and support Minnesota Child Victims Act.

Donna Dunn

Executive Director

Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault

St. Paul