宾夕法尼亚州儿童性侵幸存者即将失去起诉施害者的机会，此前一项暂时豁免诉讼时效的法案在该州立法机构再次陷入停滞。
Child sexual assault survivors in Pennsylvania are on the verge of being denied the opportunity to sue their attackers after a bill to temporarily waive filing deadlines stalled again in the state’s legislature.
民主党人指责共和党占多数的参议院将这项两党共同推动的举措政治化，该举措旨在修改州宪法，为受害者开辟一个为期两年的窗口，以便他们就多年前的猥亵指控提起诉讼。近年来，从纽约到路易斯安那等多个州已通过了类似措施。
Democrats have accused the Republican senate majority of playing politics with the bipartisan move to amend the state constitution and open a two-year window for victims to file molestation claims from years ago. Similar measures have passed in a number of other states in recent years, from New York to Louisiana.
这项拟议的修正案于6月在民主党控制的州众议院获得通过。但该法案将在11月30日立法会期结束时到期，此前共和党参议员试图将其与另一项扩大选民身份证明要求的举措捆绑在一起，而这对许多参议院民主党人来说是一条红线。
The proposed amendment cleared the Democrat-controlled state house in June. But the bill is set to expire at the end of the legislative session on 30 November after Republican senators attempted to tie it to a separate move to expand voter identification requirements, a red line for many chamber Democrats.
宾夕法尼亚州民主党州长乔什·夏皮罗此前曾批评共和党人阻挠该措施，并在今年早些时候的一篇社交媒体帖子中指出，自他上任以来，该法案已在州众议院通过了六次，但从未送到他的办公桌上。
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, has previously criticized Republicans for derailing the measure, noting in a social media post earlier this year that it passed the state house six times since he took office – but never made it to his desk.
至少从2018年起，民主党人一直在努力推动该法律的各个版本，此前该州天主教会曝光了一起大规模儿童性侵丑闻，调查发现300多名“掠夺成性的神父”侵害了至少1000名儿童。
Democrats have been trying to push through versions of the law since at least 2018 after the exposure of a large-scale child sexual abuse scandal in the state’s Catholic church in which more than 300 “predator priests” were found to have harmed at least 1,000 children.
2021年，时任州长汤姆·沃尔夫的政府因“内部系统性失误”，使宾夕法尼亚州选民无法通过全州公投将此类法律正式确立。此后，该措施的支持者对政客们多次未能推进该法案感到沮丧。
In 2021, “internal systemic failures” by the administration of then governor Tom Wolf denied Pennsylvania voters from being able to crystalize such a law in a statewide referendum. And the measure’s supporters have been frustrated by the failure of politicians to advance it on several occasions since.
根据宾夕法尼亚州法律，宪法修正案要生效，必须在连续两届立法会期以相同文本获得通过。今年的措施未获州参议院审议。
Under Pennsylvania law, for an amendment to the constitution to take effect, it must pass two consecutive legislative sessions with identical language. This year’s measure was not taken up by the state senate.
前民主党籍州众议院议长马克·罗齐表示，他对宾夕法尼亚州参议员未能推进该举措感到失望，并指责夏皮罗没有做得更多，非营利调查性新闻机构《聚焦宾州》对此进行了报道。
Mark Rozzi, the former Democratic state house speaker, said he was disappointed by the inability of Pennsylvania senators to advance the move – and also blamed Shapiro for not doing more, as reported by the non-profit investigative news outlet Spotlight PA.
“等待这项法律通过的受害者，以及尚未站出来的受害者，他们理应获得在法庭上伸张正义的日子，”作为天主教神父性侵幸存者的罗齐说道。
“Victims that are hanging on for this law to pass and victims who haven’t come forward yet, they deserve their day in court,” said Rozzi, a survivor of abuse by a Catholic priest.
“无论我们是追究肇事者的责任，还是追究协助教唆这些罪犯的机构的责任，最终他们都将被追究责任。最终，制裁的大锤将落在他们头上。”所谓的“回溯窗口”允许儿童性侵受害者日后起诉其涉嫌施暴者，往往是在正常法律救济途径已过期数年之后。近年来，受全球#MeToo社会正义运动影响，多个州通过了类似措施。
“Whether we can go after the perpetrator or we can go after the institutions that aided and abetted these criminals, eventually they are going to be held accountable. Eventually, the hammer is coming down on them.”So-called “lookback windows” allow child victims of sexual assault to later sue their alleged attackers, often years after legal options would normally have expired. Several states have passed similar measures in recent years, influenced by the global #MeToo social justice movement.
纽约州具有开创性的《成年幸存者法案》于2002年生效，引发了2500多起诉讼，并导致多位名人倒台，包括演员比尔·考斯比、音乐大亨肖恩·“迪迪”·库姆斯和电影制片人哈维·韦恩斯坦。
New York’s groundbreaking Adult Survivors Act, which took effect in 2002, sparked more than 2,500 lawsuits and brought down several celebrities, including actor Bill Cosby, music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and film producer Harvey Weinstein.
该法案出台前三年，该州的《儿童受害者法案》延长了受害者的诉讼时效，并促成了和解，例如向1300多名声称遭天主教纽约总教区神职人员和世俗领袖性侵的人士支付了8亿美元赔偿金。
It came three years after the state’s Child Victims Act extended the statute of limitations for victims and led to settlements such as $800m paid to more than 1,300 people who said they were sexually abused by clergy members and lay leaders of the Catholic archdiocese of New York.
宾夕法尼亚州共和党领袖试图将该措施最近一次未能通过的责任归咎于民主党人，声称因在选民身份证法案上无所作为而害了受害者。
Republican leaders in Pennsylvania have attempted to blame Democrats for that measure’s most recent passage failure, claiming victims were being harmed by inaction on the voter ID measure.
民主党籍州参议员玛丽亚·科莱特表示，11月3日的中期选举让选民有机会最终推动“回溯窗口”立法通过，前提是选民连任夏皮罗并让民主党控制州立法机构的两个议院。
Democratic state senator Maria Collett said the 3 November midterms give voters the opportunity to finally get a lookback window law passed if voters re-elect Shapiro and grant the Democrats control of both state legislative chambers.
《政治宾州》的民调显示，民主党有65%的可能性赢得州参议院，有90%的可能性保住州众议院的控制权。夏皮罗几乎稳操胜券，将赢得连任。
Polling by Politics PA suggests Democrats have a 65% chance to capture the state senate and a 90% chance to retain control of the house. Shapiro is a near-certainty to win re-election.
“宾夕法尼亚州童年性侵的幸存者，包括天主教教会案件的受害者，多年来一直等待立法机构给他们一个真正的窗口，在法庭上追究施害者的责任，”科莱特在文中写道，“民主党同时掌控州长职位和州议会两院，最终才能把诉讼时效改革法案送到州长案头。”
“Survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, including in Catholic church cases, have waited years for the legislature to give them a real window to hold their abusers accountable in court,” Collett wrote on“A Democratic trifecta can finally get statute of limitations reform to the governor’s desk.”