Survivors of childhood sexual abuse often lead lives in silence, secrecy and shame. Not only do they suffer from the traumatic effects of sexual abuse, which often causes depression, post-traumatic stress and addiction issues, but the fear of exposing that secret creates its own hosts of problems. One of the more significant obstacles to recovery is survivors’ reluctance to report the abuse to criminal authorities or pursue civil remedies against the perpetrators and the institutions that protect them. In my practice, I have spoken with dozens of survivors who either could not reveal their secrets or did not recognize the significant harms that the abuse inflicted until years, and sometimes decades, after the abuse occurred.
Although there are serious questions of when the statute of limitations should be imposed with respect to these cases, that is a debate that continues to rage in both the legislature and the courts in Pennsylvania. That is a discussion for another day. However, one of the other obstacles that inhibit survivors is the uncertainty in Pennsylvania of pursuing civil cases using a pseudonym to protect the identity of the survivors of sexual abuse. The time has come for an open discussion on uniform rules and procedures to deal with this issue.
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