There have been a string of sexual abuse allegations in the run-up to Thanksgiving – many of them against high-profile celebrities. Sky News looks at the significance of the timing and the special law they were filed under.
A string of celebrities have been accused of sexual assault in recent days, including Guns N‘ Roses singer Axl Rose, actor Jamie Foxx and music industry veteran Jimmy Iovine.
The flurry of accusations comes just before Thanksgiving in the US – when a law that let adult victims sue over historical attacks expires.
Sky News looks at what the law means, why it was brought in and what cases were filed under it.
Why have so many people been accused recently?
The lawsuits were filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act (ASA).
The law was brought in a year ago and created a year-long suspension of the usual time limit to sue over an alleged sexual assault.
Before that, New York laws meant most adult survivors of sexual abuse had between one and five years to bring a civil lawsuit or press criminal charges.
But during the „lookback period“, survivors could sue over abuse that happened at any point in their adult life.
The window will expire at the end of Thursday 23 November, having opened on 24 November 2022.
The ASA was modelled on a previous New York law that gave people abused as children a temporary window to file claims.
By the time the Child Victims Act’s two-year window closed in August 2021, almost 11,000 people filed lawsuits, many involving the Roman Catholic Church.
