As if Having Been Sexually Abused Is Not Bad Enough Sarah Guggisberg Axia College of University of Phoenix A young girl suffers from extreme depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and other emotional problems. At the age of four she was sexually abused by he own uncle. She tells her mother of the abuse when she turns nine years old. Her parents do not believe her and label her as a liar. Her entire family is in denial and the little girl feels rejected by her parents. They continue to invite the offending uncle to holidays and family functions. The tortured little girl is forced to pass the potatoes to her abuser every Christmas. Her family has failed her. Years pass and the little girl grows older. Feelings of depression control her every decision. The sexual abuse she endured as a child has caused her so many problems. As she matures she realizes the problems she has had are a direct result of the abuse. She decides to face her abuser head on, only to find her state only allows six years after the age of majority to file a civil suit. A civil suit would hold her abuser responsible for her pain and suffering. Juries’s recognize the effects of sexual abuse and are known to award hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars in sexual abuse cases. The statute of limitations is a set amount of time the state allows a person to file a suit in a court of law. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology provides the following definition: A limitation is a set or a statute of limitations limits the enforcement of criminal legislation by limiting the amount of time in which a prosecutor can bring the case to court. Thus upon the expiration of the statutory limitations period, the state is prevented from prosecuting the alleged offender. There should be no statute of limitations in Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) cases. The effects of the abuse keep victims from coming forward with in the time allowed by the statute. The statute punishes the victim and keeps the...