Curious about what causes laws to change?
Advocacy groups are the real power behind recent landmark legislative changes. They’re giving survivors a voice and fighting for laws that will actually protect victims.
Intrigued?
Take a deep dive into how advocacy groups move the needle on sexual abuse legislation.
Quick Peek:
- The Role Advocacy Groups Play In Legislation
- How Statute of Limitations Reform Happens
- Key Strategies That Create Real Change
- Why Survivor Voices Matter Most
Advocacy organizations do the often unseen work that affects long-term change
In the ongoing battle against child sexual abuse, one might wonder, “Where do real changes happen?” The answer is in advocacy groups.
It’s these organizations doing the unseen and sometimes thankless work to give survivors a voice. They help shepherd in laws that will actually protect victims.
Let’s dig in…
Contents
The Role Advocacy Groups Play In Legislation
Advocacy groups are the crucial bridge between survivors and elected officials. They translate survivors’ personal trauma into policy language legislators can act on.
No easy feat, that.
RAINN, the National Children’s Alliance, and CHILD USA are just a few of the many organizations working tirelessly on both state and federal legislation.
The recent Chapelstreet Church lawsuit and the subsequent Maryland Catholic Conference settlement is an example of the ways in which sexual abuse suits against institutions can work in the context of the law. Both of these cases required changes to existing laws to prosecute and find justice for victims, which is why these advocacy efforts are so important.
Sexual abuse convictions are 62.5% more common than in fiscal year 2020, according to the United States Sentencing Commission. This is yet another alarming statistic that speaks to the increase in advocacy work and the need for more legislation.
Impressive stuff.
Legislation is changed through a variety of steps.
Here’s how advocacy groups can influence lawmaking:
- Direct Lobbying — State representatives, state senators, U.S. Representatives, and U.S. Senators
- Public Awareness Campaigns — Educating the general public for grassroots support
- Legal Expertise — Testimony, research, and advice in the language of the bill
Pretty amazing, huh?
How Statute of Limitations Reform Happens
Arguably, one of the most significant legislative changes that victims can see is statute of limitations reform.
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse have been dealing with impossible deadlines for far too long. The trauma of abuse sometimes does not set in until adulthood.
So by the time survivors can and do process their trauma, they are long past the legal deadline to file suit.
Thankfully, advocacy groups changed all of that.
The Child Victims Act movement has now been made into laws in a number of different states. New York had its bill passed in 2019, while Maryland passed its bill in 2023.
These laws and the suits that have been filed as a result did not just magically happen.
CHILD USA and a number of other similar organizations have been building coalitions, researching data, and presenting their cases to state legislators and governors in a variety of states.
Survivors thought they would never get to see justice have had the chance to have their day in court under these laws. Hundreds of suits have been brought and continue to be filed against individuals and institutions to seek justice.
Key Strategies That Create Real Change
So advocacy groups do all of this work, but how, exactly, do they impact legislation? There are a few key strategies that have been shown to work time and time again.
Coalition Building
Coalition building is a tried and true formula. No one advocacy organization can change laws all by themselves. It takes multiple organizations with similar goals and missions coming together to really make an impact.
Coalitions include groups from all different walks of life, like:
- Survivor networks
- Legal organizations
- Mental health professionals
- Religious reform groups
- Child protection agencies
The more groups that speak with one voice, the more likely it is that legislators will listen.
Survivor Testimony
You have to know what’s at stake when you are making law.
This is exactly why survivor testimony is one of the most powerful tools in any advocacy group’s toolbox.
Survivors who have the courage to speak out are supported by these advocacy groups through trauma-informed prep for their testimony, legal advice throughout the whole process, as well as mental health and community support resources.
Their voices, in hearing these horror stories, put a face to the problem. This is powerful stuff.
Advocacy organizations have to make sure they are always on the lookout for trauma-informed ways to support these survivors who choose to speak out.
This also means working with media outlets, publicizing the stories that help bring people to action on these issues. It takes research to be able to work with legislators to get the bill language needed to actually make changes happen.
Why Survivor Voices Matter Most
At the end of the day, without survivors willing to put themselves out there and share their stories, it doesn’t matter how many advocacy groups get together in a room.
This takes bravery.
Survivors who speak out, do so knowing they may be re-traumatized by the process, the public will judge, and the institutions that did harm will fight to maintain the status quo. But survivors take that step because they know their stories can help save others in the future.
Advocacy organizations are there for these survivors every step of the way.
The Future of Advocacy and Legislation
Advocacy groups aren’t going to be slowing down anytime soon.
The next wave of changes will likely include areas like:
- Online child exploitation laws
- Institutional accountability requirements
- Mandatory reporting standards
- Funding for victim services
One piece of legislation that is currently a hot topic is the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act. This piece of federal legislation would work to ensure continuous funding for the victim services that advocacy groups fought so hard to get in place in the first place.
There is still much work to be done.
Outdated statutes of limitations exist in many states, some institutions continue to try to avoid accountability through legal loopholes, and mandatory reporting laws vary widely by state. The work never ends and the advocacy groups are on it one bill at a time.
Wrapping It All Up
Advocacy groups are the behind the scenes unsung heroes of sexual abuse legislation reform.
They turn survivor pain into policy changes, they build coalitions that help survivors find a collective voice, and they provide the necessary research, testimony, and perseverance that gets lawmakers to do the work.
To quickly summarize:
- Advocacy groups are the bridge between survivors and legislators
- Statute of limitations reform has been one of the biggest victories
- Coalition building and survivor testimony are key drivers of change
- Research and data form the foundation for reform
- Survivor voices will always be the most important advocacy tool
The work to make sexual abuse laws as fair and as just as possible will continue. But thanks to committed advocacy organizations and brave survivors, progress is being made every day.
Change doesn’t just happen, you know.
It happens because people organize, it happens because people speak up, and it happens because people won’t settle for the status quo.
The power of advocacy.
