HONOLULU — A new law would extend the time period to initiate civil actions for childhood sexual abuse committed on or after July 1, recognizing the cognitive and emotional barriers that often delay disclosure.
Gov. Josh Green signed Senate Bill 2601 into law last week, extending the reporting period for childhood sexual abuse from the previous limit of 26 years old to 50 years old.
“From the perspective of a health care provider, it is very difficult for people to remember or to come to terms with what has happened over the course of their life,” Green said during a news conference. “It means that they may not be aware enough to prosecute and to go down that very difficult road.
“It’s probably the hardest road for most people to go down — to acknowledge that they’ve suffered sexual abuse, though a survivor, and then to seek justice.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 20 boys in the nation experience child sexual abuse, although these numbers might underestimate the true impact due to many children delaying or never reporting the abuse.
Approximately 90% of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone known and trusted by the victim or the victim’s family. The total lifetime economic burden of child sexual abuse in the United States in 2015 was estimated to be at least $9.3 billion.
Lynn Matsuoka, executive director of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children, reported that the center treated over 1,000 sexual assault victims in 2023.
She highlighted that 47% of those treated were children, noting that the youngest client she has seen was under the age of 1.
Matsuoka noted that many minors who are victims of sexual abuse do not come forward immediately for various reasons, such as family dynamics, societal expectations or to protect their family and their own well-being; the new law would provide children with the opportunity to come forward when they feel ready.
“If it’s happening within their own family, it’s even more troubling for them to come forward, because they’re protecting the family,” she said. “They start wondering, What’s going to happen to me if I tell? Am I going to be taken out of this family? What’s going to happen to my siblings? If the trusted adult is the breadwinner, how are we going to eat? Who’s going to pay the rent?
“I’ve seen cases like that before where there’s so much that they’re going through, and it’s more than just the sex assault — they’re worried about the dynamics of their family and what’s going to happen to that family.”
Matsuoka emphasized that the healing and recovery journey for assault survivors is not linear and varies from person to person, with some people taking months, years or even decades to heal.
Survivors can decide for themselves what their path forward will involve in terms of accountability, such as through civil action.
The new law empowers them to choose when they are ready to engage with the judicial system, file a lawsuit and hold people accountable.
Matsuoka said the new law — which increases the statute of limitations from eight years after the survivor’s 18th birthday to 32 years after the survivor’s 18th birthday — aligns with the average age of childhood sexual abuse disclosure, which is approximately 52 years old.
Tia Hartsock, director of the Office of Wellness and Resilience under Green’s administration, said the law now allows survivors to go through the healing process in their own time without putting a time stamp on it.
“It gives them their own voice and choice when they’re ready and also allows our state and our systems to be more trauma- informed when responding,” Hartsock said.
The law also would authorize courts to mandate trauma-informed response training for legal entities involved in such cases, which enhances sensitivity and appropriateness in handling allegations.
Hartsock said the law was implemented around the same time as the state’s executive order to establish a trauma-informed state.
“Creating trauma-informed systems helps to minimize re-traumatizing people and minimizing triggers in an environment, in processes, in procedures,” Hartsock said. “It helps professionals understand how to better approach and how to better respond, so that we don’t re-traumatize and that we don’t create triggering environments.”
Haylin Dennison, a licensed therapist and executive director of Spill the Tea Cafe — a youth mental health clinic — recounted a recent case involving one of her clients who had to undergo a rape kit examination at the SATC, noting that the process re-traumatized her.
Dennison said while the doctors and police possibly had no intentions of offending and traumatizing the client, some words, phrases and actions may be triggering to them, especially after what the victim had been through.
“The doctor told her, as soon as she came in with cuts and bruises, ‘I know it’s not your prettiest day, but I do have to take photos of you,’ and she just completely broke down, saying that was really hard to hear,” Dennison said.
The client also had asked the policeman handling her case to sit down, but he refused.
“The policeman said, ‘No, I’m not gonna sit down. I’ve been sitting down all day,’ and he’s 6 foot, 5 inches tall,” Dennison said. “My client told me she was more re-traumatized because she had just been sexually assaulted by a man, and now this officer wouldn’t sit down.”
Dennison emphasized the critical need for a trauma-informed approach within the framework of this new law, saying that having trusted individuals who understand and empathize with victims is essential for effective healing and rebuilding trust.
She also acknowledged that while legal entities are performing their duties, certain triggers during the case could evoke negative experiences with officials, leading survivors of sexual assault to lose trust in law enforcement or medical professionals.
The distrust could deter survivors from reporting assaults for fear of disbelief or re-traumatization.
Dennison said that while the new law is not a complete solution to the issue of sex abuse on minors, it is a step in the right direction.
She said the conviction rate for sexual assault is incredibly low, and the burden of proof is the highest in the court system, making it extremely difficult and nearly impossible to secure a conviction.
The challenge is exacerbated by the fact that evidence like rape kits, which involve DNA testing, may not be available decades after the incident, further hindering the pursuit of justice in such cases.
In Dennison’s 20 years of experience as a therapist for youth under 18, she has worked with over 1,000 clients, with at least 400 cases related to sexual assault.
She emphasizes the importance of advocating for children, as they are among the most vulnerable and voiceless.
Anecdotally, she observed that all of these assaults were perpetrated by people known to the victims, rather than strangers.
“It’s so confusing for kids,” Dennison said. “A lot of times they don’t even have the language to talk about what has happened to them, and because most of the time it’s someone that they know, they are confused because they also have a good relationship with this person or it could be someone who actually loves them.”
Children who experience sexual assault, Dennison said, can manifest their trauma through psychological symptoms, including post-traumatic stress disorder, extreme anxiety, depression and hypersexualization, as well as psychosomatic symptoms like gastrointestinal issues and persistent headaches.
She noted that in some cases, teenagers also might exhibit substance abuse, anger outbursts and promiscuity in addition to these other symptoms.
Dennison emphasized the importance of teaching children about consent from a young age, which she refers to as understanding “good touch, bad touch and secret touch.”
“Good touch,” she explained, includes actions like high-fives and hugs, where consent should still be sought.
“Can I give you a high-five? Hey, can I give you a hug?” Dennison said. “We still need consent even with good touch.”
Regarding “bad touch,” Dennison explained, “It’s something that’s just not allowed, like hitting or punching in the face.”
She defined “secret touch” as inappropriate touching done secretly by others, emphasizing the need for children to immediately inform a trusted adult and “scream or kick for help” if it happens.
Dennison also highlighted the importance of having supportive adults who will believe children.
“This is crucial so they don’t feel scared to tell — like, ‘No one’s going to believe me,’” she said. “Another issue I see with parents is their reluctance to believe their child.”
Dennison shared that she is a survivor of childhood sexual assault, having been assaulted by someone from her church at the age of 5.
She did not disclose the assault until her late 20s, when she felt prepared to talk about the incident. Understanding the reluctance of other childhood sexual assault survivors to come forward until they are older, she empathizes deeply with their experiences.
“With the previous law we wouldn’t even have had that option,” Dennison noted. “Now the law gives people the opportunity to seek justice if they choose to.”
