Sponsors (3)
The bill substantially expands survivors' ability to sue and obtain compensation for sexual abuse, trafficking, and forced labor—removing or extending time limits and clarifying venue—while increasing litigation exposure, costs for defendants and insurers, and administrative burdens on courts and prosecutors.
Survivors of sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and forced labor (including women, children/youth, immigrants, and low-income individuals) can bring civil claims despite prior time limits—eliminating or extending statutes of limitations so older or long-suppressed claims can proceed.
Survivors can recover damages and attorneys' fees, increasing practical access to compensation and legal representation for victims of sexual abuse, trafficking, and forced labor.
Victims may file previously time‑barred forced-labor and trafficking civil claims during a one‑year revival window, giving people an immediate but limited opportunity to seek redress for older harms.
Businesses and other third parties (including small businesses and financial beneficiaries) face expanded civil liability for conduct they 'knew or should have known' about, increasing litigation exposure and legal risk.
Damages awards and payment of plaintiffs' attorneys' fees shift financial costs onto defendants and their insurers, which could raise insurance premiums and legal costs passed on to consumers or taxpayers.
Defendants may face suits based on decades-old allegations when evidence has degraded, increasing defense costs and raising fairness and evidentiary concerns in litigation.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Creates new federal civil causes of action for victims of certain sexual-abuse and transportation-for-illicit-sexual-activity crimes, lets victims sue perpetrators and anyone who knowingly financially benefits from those ventures, and allows recovery of damages and attorneys’ fees. It also amends the federal trafficking civil remedy to broaden venue and removes time limits for lawsuits tied to the most serious forced-labor and trafficking offenses. Proceedings must be stayed while related criminal matters are pending, most new claims must be filed within 10 years (or within 10 years after a victim turns 18 if they were a minor), and the bill opens a one-year window to revive some previously time‑barred trafficking and newly created claims. The changes apply to new claims and certain existing claims as specified, and include clerical updates to federal criminal statutes. No new federal appropriations or program authorizations are created; the measure mainly alters civil liability, statute-of-limitations rules, venue, and temporary revival rights for victims seeking civil relief in federal court.
Introduced February 10, 2026 by Teresa Leger Fernandez · Last progress February 10, 2026