“A new law that goes into effect Wednesday, gives adult victims of childhood sex abuse in New York one year to bring civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers and the institutions that may have allowed the abuse.

The one-year filing period is known as a “look-back window,” and allows victims to bring cases that used to be beyond the state’s statute of limitations that legislators overhauled this year. Manhattan Assembly member Yuh-line Niou is one of the people who voted for the new law, touting it at a news conference on Tuesday.

“The passing of this legislation is telling survivors like myself that our stories matter to our government, and that we count in the eyes of the law,” Niou said.

The law gives survivors more time to file civil and criminal cases going forward, and opens the look-back window for old cases. Most survivors in New York used to be cut off after they turned 23.”