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GILLIBRAND HAILS SENATE PASSAGE OF HER BIPARTISAN BILL TO PROTECT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVORS

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Terminating Restrictive Enforcement of Youth Settlements (TREY’S) Law, which she co-leads with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). The bill would void nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) that silence survivors of child sexual abuse.

“For too long, nondisclosure agreements have been used to silence survivors of child sexual abuse and shield perpetrators from accountability,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Today, we are one step closer to correcting that injustice and allowing survivors to publicly tell their stories. I am grateful to Sen. Cruz for his partnership and leadership on TREY’S Law and am thrilled that it has now passed the Senate. I urge the House of Representatives to take up this bill and send it to the president’s desk as soon as possible.”

“Trey’s story is not the exception, but the pattern,” said Senator Cruz. “Non-disclosure agreements are too often used to bury abuse and silence survivors, with incalculable and catastrophic consequences for victims. We will never know how many child victims were silenced by these contracts or how many lives were lost because the law enforced that silence. I am thankful to Senator Gillibrand for helping get TREY’S Law across the finish line in the Senate. I now urge my colleagues in the House to pass this legislation and send it to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.”

TREY’S Law would void NDAs in cases of child sexual abuse or assault. NDAs can be used to silence survivors of child sexual abuse and shield perpetrators from accountability. This bill would make any NDA provision unenforceable if it prohibits or restricts someone from disclosing the sexual abuse of a minor or facts related to that abuse, regardless of whether the NDA was signed before a dispute arose or as part of a civil settlement agreement.

The bill is named in honor of Trey Carlock, a young man from Dallas, Texas who endured sexual abuse as a child while at a summer camp. He signed an NDA as part of a civil settlement, forcing him to silently carry the trauma of his abuse and barring him from publicly speaking out against the perpetrator. He ultimately took his own life at age 28.