(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Talk of Montana legislators protecting children is ringing awfully hollow – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'April', 'Patrick Duganz'] Date: 2023-04-24 With the recent bloviating about the “danger” drag queens and gender-affirming care pose to Montana children, you would think our Legislature would be first in line to pass a bill to actually help survivors of child sexual abuse. You’d be wrong. The 13 Republicans serving on the Montana House Judiciary Committee – several of whom represent the aforementioned bloviating – recently voted against sending Montana Senate Bill 277 to the floor for a full vote. This bill would have eliminated restrictions limiting survivors of child sexual abuse from suing persons or organizations that harmed them. Under current law an adult survivor must file suit prior to age 27, or “not later than three years after the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that the injury was caused by the act of childhood sexual abuse.” This section of Montana law serves only to protect abusers and their enablers. The think tank Child USA notes the average survivor of child sexual abuse discloses at age 52 — a staggering 25 years after Montana law’s barrier. Unfortunately, the “reasonable” three-year gap afforded in the law is also inadequate as many survivors have always understood the harm, and have been burdened with that for decades. An unfortunate truth is that victims of these crimes are fairly common. The Center for Disease Control estimates that one in five Americans were victims of child sexual abuse (approximately 200,000 Montanans). With only a fraction of these crimes being prosecuted, civil recourse as an adult is one of the few avenues for a survivor to seek justice. These facts were explained to the House Judiciary at a hearing on March 24. So it’s difficult to understand why any elected official would vote against eliminating senseless civil restrictions, but Rep. Jed Hinkle made an attempt, saying prior to his vote: “I’m struggling to find what the purpose is of the change in this bill; why we need that. So…” I include that ellipses because Rep. Hinkle didn’t finish that thought, leaving us to wonder where it would have led. His fellow Republican, Sen. Bob Brown, who is a child sexual abuse survivor, explained the purpose of the bill prior to his yes vote in the Montana Senate in February: “If this (bill) does nothing more than to let (abusers) know that no matter what…you may be held accountable for what you have done to some small child that didn’t have the strength to resist, then it is a success.” Sadly, Brown’s words did not convince three of his Republican peers in the Senate, nor the 13 serving on the House Judiciary Committee. In these days of political division, child sexual abuse should not be a a partisan issue, but unfortunately that’s how the votes went in the House. Rep. Casey Knudsen, another committee member and “no” vote, credited his opposition to SB 277 out of concern for a rush of litigation. However, similar legislation already exists in Minnesota, Delaware, New York, Hawaii and California, and, according to Child USA, has not resulted in a dramatic increase in legal cases. The truth is many survivors hold needless shame and fear over what was done to them, and aren’t champing at the bit to be grilled over their abuse before a jury of their peers. I know this because, like Sen. Brown, I am a survivor of child sexual abuse. Prior to the bill failing in the House, I had no desire to ever speak publicly of my own experience. Like many survivors, just coping with the effects of the abuse — the stress, fear, anxiety, and depression — is enough. As Sen. Brown said of his own abuse: “It’s not always in my memory every day, no — but it is always in my memory.” Like most offenders, the man — not a drag queen, gender care physician, or transgender teenager — who abused me faced no consequences for his actions. With the inaction of these legislators, he is afforded protection under the law — protection that survivors deserve, not abusers. April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Every child victim will grow up as an adult survivor. After the 13-6 vote in committee, Rep. Knudsen made a motion to table SB 277, where it remains unless these legislators can muster a shred of integrity and defend survivors. Sens. Becky Beard, Steve Hinebach, Jeremy Trebas; along with Reps. Jennifer Carlson, Lee Deming, Neil Duram, Jodee Etchart, Caleb Hinkle, Jedediah Hinkle, Brandon Ler, Greg Kmetz, Casey Knudsen, Braxton Mitchell, Amy Regier, Wayne Rusk, and Lola Sheldon-Galloway, have failed in their duty to Montana. Yet many of these same people will waste time ranting over fictional concerns for Montana’s youth should these kids experience preferred pronouns or hear stories read by people in costume. The care they’ve expressed for children is hollow and without merit. These officials had a chance to stand with survivors, and failed. With little time remaining in the 2023 Legislature, perhaps they can reconsider. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/04/24/talk-of-montana-legislators-protecting-children-is-ringing-awfully-hollow/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/