U.S. Capitol to Fly a Flag Honoring Survivors of Sexual Violence

The U.S. Capitol will ring in the new year by flying a flag in honor of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. We are grateful for this display of support and are hopeful that legislators will follow it up by taking up legislation in 2020 that will protect children and prevent future cases of abuse.

On January 1, the U.S. Capitol will fly a flag “in honor of survivors and victims of childhood sex abuse” thanks to a request made by Senator John Cornyn III. This show of solidarity and support for survivors of sexual violence is a powerful gesture by Senator Cornyn and we are grateful to him and his office for this show of support. We hope that that legislators around the country will follow in Senator Cornyn’s footsteps and take steps to promote the protection of children and support of survivors by taking up needed reforms during this upcoming year.

At a national level, legislators can follow up this display with action by holding hearings on cases of institutional sexual abuse, using their power as national leaders to demand answers from institutional leaders about cases of sexual abuse and cover-ups that have taken place in churches, universities, and youth groups nationwide. Such hearings can draw the public’s attention to these cases, channel public outrage in action and force institutions to do better.

At a state level, legislators can help by introducing “window to justice” legislation that would allow claims that have been barred by statute of limitations to be heard in civil court. This legislation was passed in New Jersey, New York, and California in the past year and has led to a deluge of abusers being publicly identified and can help ensure that the institutions that enabled those abusers can be held responsible. When this information is made public, communities are better informed and parents are better able to protect their children.

CONTACT: Richard Windmann, SNAP Louisiana ([email protected], 682-710-1965), Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

 


Showing 6 comments

  • Katherine Johnson
    commented 2020-01-02 12:18:46 -0600
    Richard, you are absolutely correct. EVERYONE must help prevent child abuse. Support policies that make remove the obstacles blocking every survivor from getting their well-deserved justice regardless of the who the politician is proposing them. Rapists do not care what political persuasion a person is, or what race or sex or religion. We absolutely should never make that an issue or ever bring politics into such a serious non-partisan issue. thanks for the post.
  • Richard Windmann
    commented 2020-01-02 10:17:17 -0600
    I was hoping this would not become political. Stopping the sexual abuse of our children is an issue everyone can get behind, regardless of a person’s political persuasion. I am respectfully asking survivors and victims to support one another, and please do not let personal politics get in the way of your well-deserved justice.
  • Patricia Quirk
    commented 2020-01-01 09:29:42 -0600
    Thank you for this support.
  • Katherine Johnson
    commented 2020-01-01 08:34:55 -0600
    Tossing out Trump is not honoring this survivor, I look forward to 4 more years, and my rapist in prison for the rest of his life.
  • Nancy Mayer
    commented 2019-12-31 16:57:39 -0600
    They could further honor survivors of sexual violence by throwing the sex offender POTUS out of office and charging him for his crimes.
  • Randy Orso
    commented 2019-12-31 15:22:41 -0600
    I would settle for laws that charge the coverup artists like Archbishop Sean Cardinal O’Malley, what good is this flag when people go unpunished!

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