Albany Times-Union (Opinion) | By Stephen Jimenez and Kathryn Robb
February 25, 2025
Insurance companies need to be held to account to bring justice for survivors of childhood sex abuse
Six years ago this month, the Child Victims Act was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. At the time, it was lauded as landmark legislation that temporarily extended the statute of limitations in childhood sex abuse cases so survivors like us could finally receive justice. Not long after the legislation was signed, then-Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul said this law would tip the scales of justice “in favor of survivors.
”We filed our claims the day the CVA went into effect, and for the first time in years, we felt hope. But more than half a decade later, we’re still waiting for justice — just like thousands of other survivors across New York.
What was supposed to be a tidal wave of accountability is really just a painfully endless drip, as the vast majority of survivors’ cases remain in limbo.
Why? There’s plenty of blame to go around — from bankruptcy processes to a judicial system unequipped to handle thousands of cases. But the major impediment is the outright refusal of major insurance companies to cover CVA claims — and Albany’s total failure to hold them accountable.
While New York’s political leaders were quick to hail the CVA as a victory, they’ve done little — if anything — to ensure the provisions of the CVA are meaningfully enforced. With no political will in Albany to enforce the law, predatory insurance companies have decided the law simply doesn’t apply to them, despite Department of Financial Services’ guidance instructing insurance agencies to fully comply with the intent of the CVA.
Multibillion-dollar companies, like Chubb Insurance, have instead refused to pay out thousands of child sexual abuse claims, standing in the way of justice in the cynical hope that years of additional litigation will allow them to escape responsibility as they pad their record profits.
We know that corporate greed runs rampant across the country. What we didn’t expect was for New York state leaders to let insurance companies get away with it in our state.
Once a strong ally of our movement, Gov. Hochul has a chance to stand with us today, instead of caving to the interests of big insurance. We’ve seen how effective she can be in holding health insurance companies accountable. Survivors of childhood sex abuse need this same level of leadership immediately, before it’s too late.
Tragically, many survivors have already died without ever receiving the compensation they’re entitled to under the CVA. How many more will die waiting for justice? This is a massive failure on the part of state leaders, who seemingly passed this law with no intention to ever enforce it.
That’s why, as we mark six years since the Child Victims Act was signed into law, we ask Albany leaders to think of their fellow New Yorkers, who are survivors of some of the most egregious crimes in humanity. All we are asking for is the compensation we are entitled to under the law and to close this agonizing chapter once and for all. We are pleading with the governor and the Department of Financial Services to firmly support us in our pursuit for justice.
May this be the final year we have to beg our leaders to find the moral courage to act. We cannot allow the CVA, which promised justice for survivors, to only be symbolic.
We cannot allow corporations to tell us which of our state laws apply to them. Now, in this moment of national reckoning, we must hold the insurance industry accountable and ensure survivors finally receive the justice they deserve.
Stephen Jimenez and Kathryn Robb have both filed sex abuse lawsuits under the Child Victims Act.