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Sexual Assault Limitations

Decent Essays

“Only 344 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police. That means about 2 out of 3 go unreported.” (Rainn 1). Many victims of sexual assault don’t report the assault for certain reason, but there are some that can not report the assault because it is past the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is how long a person has to report a crime or how long the police can pursue a crime. The statute of limitations on sexual assault can range from 3 to 30 years depending of the ‘type’ of assault and the age of the victim. Sexual Assault should not have a statute of limitations because of the psychological effects and the time it takes for a victim to recover. In fact many victims who were sexually assaulted as children don’t realize that they were assaulted until they are adults because the memories of the assault were repressed.
On the one hand, some argue that psychological effects can interfere with a victim’s testimony. The psychological trauma that a victim suffers from being sexually assaulted can have effects that can last for decades. California Coalition Against Sexual Assault often report that after being assaulted victims feel “shame, self-loathing and fear” and Joelle Casteix is no exception. “It took me years to understand the extent of my abuse and recover enough to come forward, but by that time, the criminal and civil statutes of limitations had expired. Even though I had evidence that my choir director had sexually assaulted me, there was nothing I could do to stop him from targeting other vulnerable teens” (Casteix 1). Casteix’s point is that many victims don’t understand that they were assaulted until after the limitations. This makes it very difficult for victims to come forward about their assault because when an assault is reported after the limitations very little can be done for the victim. It had taken Casteix years to understand what had happened to her before she had came forward only to be told that her case couldn't be prosecuted even with evidence because she apparently had taken too long to recover from her assault.
For victims it can take years or even decades to be able to recover from their assault, not just physically, but also mentally. Recovering

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