Justice for Abused Children

04/17/2024

High-profile s*x assault survivor urges Colorado Senate Republicans to pass constitutional amendment. Contact your Senator and ask them to Vote Yes on SCR24-001 The Child S*xual Abuse Amendment

A constitutional amendment -- pushed by survivors of child s*xual assault -- hangs in the balance at the State Capitol as Colorado Republicans line up against it.

04/16/2024

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe and The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Support The Child S*xual Abuse Amendment. Join us and tell your legislator to vote yes on SCR-001! https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-s*xually-abused-children-pass-scr24-001

04/12/2024

Join us on Tuesday April 16 at 2 pm at the capitol!

04/11/2024

ADD YOUR NAME: Call on your state legislators to pass SCR24-001. We’ve made it easy for you.

Click below, sign our petition, and your message will go right to your legislators: https://chng.it/hyxDwY6FZv

More than 80% of Colorado voters support removing the statute of limitations so that survivors of s*xual abuse can seek justice. But, Republicans in the state legislature are trying to shut this down. They’re protecting child s*xual abusers and we won’t stand for it.

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

04/11/2024

The time is now to vote yes on SCR24-001 The Child S*xual Abuse Accountability Amendment.

04/08/2024

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that to remove the statute of limitations for all child s*xual abuse claims, a constitutional amendment is needed. That’s what lawmakers are working on now.
“A statute of limitations really limits how long survivors have to come to a place where they feel strong enough to move forward.”
Gina Lopez is a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and she works for the Colorado Coalition Against S*xual Assault.
“This really allows an opportunity to have that time to process through their trauma. Validating a survivor is so powerful – and not that that’s going to fix everything or change their course in their life – but it’s a huge component of getting that wheel going in terms of healing.”
Daisy Bluestar is a member of the Southern Ute Tribe. She explains how common child s*xual abuse is in tribal communities.
“One of the places that it might benefit our native communities would be boarding school survivors, unfortunate situations in the Catholic churches, and Boy Scouts. We know as indigenous people that this has been some of the places where a lot of our children have been abused growing up.”
Chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Melvin Baker, announced his endorsement of the amendment.
Chairman Baker said in a statement, “S*xual violence has been a tool of colonization with generations of indigenous children experiencing s*xual abuse in boarding school systems. The practice of s*xual violence towards indigenous people and youth continues with indigenous women experiencing s*xual violence at higher rates than all other races reported. Many of these are committed by non-indigenous perpetrators.”
Community organizers like Gina Lopez and Daisy Bluestar are advocating for support from their representatives, especially Republican State Senator Cleave Simpson, who represents the southwest corner.
As the amendment awaits a vote in the Senate, advocates say just one Republican vote is needed to pass the measure. If it passes in the Senate, it will go to the House. Then, it would go to voters for a ballot question in November before a change can be made to the Constitution.

For KSUT and KSJD, I’m Clark Adomaitis.

03/30/2024

The Durango Herald:
Holding Child S*xual Abusers Accountable
Encourage Colorado State Legislators to Vote Yes on SCR-001

As the systems response program director at the Colorado Coalition Against S*xual Assault, I represent our statewide s*xual assault organization in various legislative groups and councils. I previousl...

03/26/2024

Kathryn Robb in The Colorado Sun said, "The Rocky Mountaineer conducted a poll in January, asking two questions relative to this legislation. The results showed that 84% of voters favor this amendment, and 61% said they would be less likely to reelect a state legislator who voted against this amendment, allowing victims to sue their abuser.

It is bad enough that predators and other bad actors sn**ch the voices of young children. Let’s not let the General Assembly take away the people’s voice to weigh in on this public health crisis.

Let the people vote — for the children of Colorado."

Amendment to state constitution concerning statute of limitations is simple but would be substantial in safeguarding children.

03/26/2024

Colorado Springs Gazette:
Vote yes on SCR1 and help human trafficking victims
"By eliminating the civil claim statute of limitations for child s*x abuse cases, we can offer survivors the opportunity to seek justice and hold their abusers accountable as well as institutions that sometimes protect these predators. On behalf of the Colorado Human Trafficking Council and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, I call on our state legislators to stand with survivors, protect our children, and hold predators accountable by voting “Yes” on SCR24-001."

S*x trafficking and s*xual abuse of our children are crimes that often occur in the shadows. Victims frequently feel shame or even blame for the abuse they suffer. In some

03/26/2024

Grand Junction Sentinel:
Why Colorado must support SCR 24-001 for childhood s*xual abuse survivors
"I urge the Colorado Legislature to stand on the side of survivors, to vote in favor of SCR 24-001, and put this measure on the ballot. I ask that you please contact your legislators to do the same. It’s time the power shifts from protecting abusers to those who have survived what no child should ever have to endure.

Let us give voice to the silenced, ensuring that no survivor walks alone. It takes just one voice to spark change, and together, we can ensure that every voice counts."

By ANGIE WITT

03/21/2024

To my Colorado Senate Republicans colleagues -

This shouldn't – and doesn't – need to be a partisan issue. Let's join together and do the right thing here. Help victims hold predators accountable and any institution complicit in the abuse of children. Pass the Child S*xual Abuse Accountability Amendment (SCR24-001).

03/21/2024

Contact your Colorado legislators today and ask them to vote yes on SCR-001 The Child S*xual Abuse Accountability Amendment.

There is surprising pushback against a constitutional amendment that would allow child s*x assault survivors to bring civil claims no matter how long ago their abuse happened.