Sponsors (4)
The bill substantially expands survivors' civil remedies and accountability for sexual abuse, trafficking, and forced labor (including removing or extending time limits and widening who can be sued), while increasing litigation exposure, court workload, and potential defense and reputational burdens for accused parties and service providers.
Survivors of sexual abuse, trafficking, and forced labor (including immigrants, women, minors, and low-income people) can sue a wider set of defendants — perpetrators, facilitators, and those who knowingly benefited — expanding paths to monetary damages and attorney's fees.
Survivors (including those who were minors) gain much longer or no time limits to bring civil claims — the bill removes statutes of limitations for certain serious sexual‑abuse and trafficking offenses and ensures at least 10 years after turning 18 to file — letting delayed-reporting survivors seek redress.
Trafficking and forced‑labor survivors (including immigrants and low‑income individuals) can bring civil claims in districts tied to related criminal prosecutions, making it easier to sue and improving coordination between criminal and civil proceedings.
Businesses, employers, nonprofits, and individuals who may be accused of 'benefiting' from trafficking or abuse (including small businesses) face greater civil liability exposure and higher litigation costs, potentially chilling lawful activity and imposing defense burdens.
Federal courts, prosecutors, and taxpayers are likely to face increased caseloads and costs because of more civil suits (including venue expansions and revived claims) and the need to coordinate criminal and civil matters.
Defendants (including employers) may be subject to very old allegations with degraded or unavailable evidence after elimination or extension of limitations, making fair defense harder and increasing risks of erroneous liability.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Adds federal private civil causes of action for sexual‑abuse and trafficking offenses, broadens venue, removes time limits for certain trafficking/forced‑labor claims, and creates a one‑year revival window for time‑barred suits.
Official title: To amend title 18, United States Code, to create a civil cause of action for certain crimes and to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil actions relating to certain crimes, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 10, 2026 by Teresa Leger Fernandez · Last progress February 10, 2026
Creates new federal private civil causes of action for victims of certain sexual-abuse, sex-trafficking, and transportation-for-illegal-sexual-activity offenses, lets victims sue perpetrators and people who knowingly benefited from those crimes, expands where suits may be brought, eliminates time limits for some categories of claims, and provides a one-year window to revive recently time-barred cases. The law also updates existing civil remedies for trafficking by broadening venue and removing the statute of limitations for claims based on forced labor and trafficking statutes.