With time limited, advocates race to educate victims of sexual abuse about statute of limitations lapes

Aug. 24--Since the passage of the Child Protection Act by the Arizona legislature earlier this year, the race has been on to spread the news of an 18 month laps in the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse as minors to file civil action.

Working to spread that information is Bridie Farrell with the Zero Abuse Project, which held a forum Thursday night at the Joe Montoya Senior Center in Flagstaff along with Rep. Walter Blackman (R-Snowflake) and Rep. Myron Tsosie (D-Chinle), both of whom supported the bill.

"This is a very important issue not only in the state of Arizona but in Indian country as well across the United States," Tsosie said. "It takes a lot of courage for survivors to come forward and tell their story, to come to the capitol and to testify before committee and before the legislature. That takes a lot of courage to do."

Farrell said the event was one of the first of many the Zero Abuse Project would be hosting around the state as they work to inform people about the bill's passage and what it could mean for those who experienced sexual abuse as minors.

Farrell knows more than most about how this bill can help as a survivor of sexual abuse herself. When she was 15 and pursuing Olympic speed skating, Ferrell was sexually abused by teammate and 30-year-old Olympic silver medalist Andrew Gabel.

Since Ferrell came forward with her experience in 2013 when she was 31, Gabel has admitted to the abuse and Ferrell has continued to advocate for survivors of sexual abuse.

Prior to the Child Protection Act's passage, Farrell said Arizona was one of the worst states for survivors whose statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit against either the perpetrator or an institution that enabled a perpetrator ended when the victim turned 20.

Ferrell said most people who have experiences with sexual abuse when they are minors don't come forward until much later, often waiting into their 50s to tell their stories.

The act, which was signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey in May, raised that age to 30 and opened an 18-month window in which those whose statute of limitations had previously passed can now file a civil case.

Farrell said the changes will allow victims who may have previously missed their chance to hold accountable a predator or an institution that enabled one.

"And more than saying come forward and hold these people accountable, for the first time it gives survivors the choice," Farrell said. "It gives the power back to the teenage girl who was 15, and Arizonans can if they want come forward and file a suit. But you know what, to me what is just as important is they don't have to if they don't want to."

That 18 months began in May and is set to expire on December 31, 2020. And Ferrell said that is why she and other members of the Zero Abuse Project are crisscrossing the state holding town halls and small forums to get the news out.

"It's going to expire quickly," Ferrell said, adding that while the bill's passage is great, it doesn't really matter if no one knows about it.

She said the forums also offer them the opportunity to invite both members of the public who may have experienced sexual abuse as minors and local providers of counseling services.

But the bill's passage was not an easy one, with certain members of the Republican leadership in the state Senate opposing the measure including Sen. Sylvia Allen (R-Snowflake).

In the end it took Sen. Paul Boyer (R-Glendale), who had first introduced the measure, and others threatening to sink the state budget before a version of the bill was able to pass.

In the state House, both Tsosie and Blackman supported the bill. Blackman suggested the state legislature may need to do more to help victims of sexual abuse.

"It's terrible that a person has to carry this burden their entire life. We're going to continue to fight for this," Blackman said. "This is not a partisan issue; this is a human issue."

Before Blackman ran for office, he had worked on issues of sexual abuse both in the private sector, starting a business to work on issues of diversity and victim advocacy, and in the military.

Blackman said many of the people who came to him for help and to report sexual assaults were his age, and talked about experiences they had when they were children in the '70s and '80s.

In the military, Blackman said, there is no statute of limitations and they will pull someone who has left the military back for a court martial if they need to.

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