Rep. Leger Fernández, Sen. Schumer introduce 'Virginia's Law'

A New Mexico congresswoman is pushing for adult human trafficking survivors to get more time to sue their abusers with legislation named after Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Jeffrey Epstein accuser.

“It takes years for victims of abuse to feel safe enough to come forward, and time should never be a weapon in the abuser’s arsenal,” said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M. “Virginia's Law eliminates the statute of limitations for key federal civil claims brought by survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation.”

Leger Fernández and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer unveiled the bill Tuesday at a news conference alongside Giuffre’s family. Giuffre died by suicide last year.

“Virginia's dream was to inspire and empower survivors to come forward in a world that too often turns away from abuse and pushes it into the shadows,” said Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts. “She wanted to bring light.”

One of Giuffre’s main missions was to eliminate the statute of limitations on adult sex trafficking, Roberts said.

The new legislation would eliminate the statute of limitations for civil claims related to forced labor, human trafficking and sex trafficking. It would also create a new cause of action for sexual abuse and trafficking survivors to sue their abusers for violations of federal laws related to sexual abuse and transporting people for illegal sexual activity.

The bill includes a one-year period after enactment, during which survivors of sex trafficking and sexual abuse that occurred before the law was enacted can bring civil action for those past crimes.

“Justice should not expire, and for survivors, healing does not run on a government clock,” Schumer said.

Under existing law, survivors typically have to file a civil claim against their abuser within 10 years of when the abuse occurred or within 10 years of when they turned 18.

Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer who represents Giuffre and other survivors, called the bill announcement “a watershed moment for survivor rights.”

The legislation also "clarifies that traffickers cannot escape accountability by committing abuses in another jurisdiction," Leger Fernández said.

The legislation would explicitly ensure that abusers can't avoid civil liability by taking victims to a nearby location outside of the United States, according to the congresswoman's spokesman Julian Duque. Courts have traditionally interpreted the existing Trafficking Victims Protection Act to cover conduct outside of U.S. soil, he said, but legislators are concerned that some courts have recently narrowed their view of the remedy's scope.

“You don't get to escape prosecution by simply putting predators and victims on a plane to a private island or a mansion in Florida or a ranch in New Mexico," Leger Fernández said.

Epstein owned Zorro Ranch, a more than 7,000-acre ranch in Santa Fe County. The New Mexico Legislature is considering creating a committee that would investigate accounts of sexual abuse and trafficking that allegedly happened at the property during the more than two decades that Epstein owned it.

Leger Fernández and Schumer’s bill still has to make it through a Republican majority Congress, but there has been some bipartisan support for past legislation tied to Epstein. The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed into law in November and requires the Department of Justice to publish all unclassified documents related to Epstein’s investigation and prosecution.