New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a breakthrough legislation that extends the statue of limitations for second and third degree rape victims on Wednesday and celebrated with selfies with Time’s Up activist actresses Michelle Hurd, Julianne Moore and Mira Sorvino.
Cuomo signed the new bill in his Manhattan office surrounded by Time’s Up and #MeToo activists who lobbied for the legislation.
The new law gives survivors of second-degree rape victims 20 years to press charges and third-degree rape victims up to 10 years to seek justice. Victims previously had a limit of just five years to press rape charges.
‘Rape and sexual assault are much more common and frequent than we admit,’ Cuomo said. ‘You will never solve a problem in life that you are unwilling to admit and denial is not a life strategy. We have denied this for too long.’
‘This was really a team effort and a group effort,’ Cuomo said from the signing table alongside Michelle Hurd, Julianne Moore and Mira Sorvino.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed breakthrough legislation that extends the statue of limitations for second and third degree rape victims on Wednesday and celebrated with selfies with Time’s Up activist actresses Michelle Hurd (second right), Julianne Moore (left) and Mira Sorvino (third right)
History in the making! The new law gives survivors of second-degree rape victims 20 years to bring charges and third-degree rape victims up to 10 years. Victims previously had a limit of just five years to press rape charges
Say cheese! Cuomo signed the new bill in his Manhattan office surrounded by Time’s Up and #MeToo activists who lobbied for the legislation
‘Rape and sexual assault are much more common and frequent than we admit,’ Cuomo said. ‘You will never solve a problem in life that you are unwilling to admit and denial is not a life strategy. We have denied this for too long’
‘Time’s Up did a fantastic, fantastic job,’ he added according to New York Daily News, citing the sweeping movement that sparked following the spate rape allegations against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2017.
The law gives New York one of the toughest rape laws in the nation.
‘It can be incredibly difficult for survivors to come forward when they’re assaulted,’ Hurd, the Law & Order SVU actress and leader in the Time’s Up Movement, said. ‘No longer will New York state have an unjust expiration date on justice for survivors of rape.’
‘There is a hunger out there for justice and we are here to tell all of you who feel that hunger that we are getting closer to that day when predators will not abuse unabated in an atmosphere of impunity,’ Sorvino, a Time’s Up and #MeToo activist said.
‘There is a hunger out there for justice and we are here to tell all of you who feel that hunger that we are getting closer to that day when predators will not abuse unabated in an atmosphere of impunity,’ Mira Sorvino, a Time’s Up and #MeToo activist said. Sorvino pictured above at the signing
‘No longer will New York state have an unjust expiration date on justice for survivors of rape,’ Law & Order SVU actress and Time’s Up leader Michelle Hurd said
‘We’re very happy that the Time’s Up safety agenda is being signed into a bill today,’ Moore, a Time’s Up activist, said
‘We are here to say to survivors, you are not to blame, you are not worthless, you are not less than,’ she added. ‘You are not dirty or damaged goods. You are not without recourse or support credibility. You are not without hope!’
The Mighty Aphodite actress has been public about how she was date raped and in June she gave a powerful testimony before to state lawmakers about the attack. She was also an early Weinstein accuser.
‘There are all these survivors out there right now who need justice, who need to feel that they can take the time they need to sort through the trauma, to sort through the shame,’ she said.
On Wednesday Sorvino triumphantly said every time someone stands up to ‘rape culture’ it means ‘we stand up for all of us.’
Time’s Up: Sorvino pictured at the signing on the New York State legislation extending the statue of limitations for second degree and third degree rape victims on Wednesday
Roberta Kaplan, the co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, pictured smiling during Wednesday’s signing. The new bill was lobbied by Time’s Up and #MeToo activists
‘We’re very happy that the Time’s Up safety agenda is being signed into a bill today,’ Moore said in her brief remarks.
State Sen Alessandra Biaggi, who has been outspoken on her own experience surviving sexual abuse, praised the new law.
‘By extending the statute of limitations for certain offenses of rape, sexual criminal acts, and incest, New York state is adopting procedures that allow survivors of sexual violence to report on their own terms,’ she said in a statement.
The law also extends the statute of limitations to 20 years for a criminal sexual act in the second degree and incest in the second degree, and to 10 years for a criminal sexual act in the third degree.