The new New York Anti-SLAPP law affords greater protections to sexual violence survivors and reporters”. In recent, we have seen an increase in defendants in sexual violence cases bringing strategic lawsuits against public participation or “SLAPP” lawsuits which are intended to harass, intimidate, threaten, and deter survivors from bringing lawsuits.
We often see these in cases of victims of campus sexual assault cases when a survivor attempts to report a rape under Title IX. The survivors is forced to defend in costly litigation because they chose to report their assault. This is also a major issue with media reporters simply trying to get the truth out. The alleged defendant uses it as a way to intimidate reporters and survivors to retract their stories and reports. Now, survivors and reporters have stronger protections against these harmful and frivolous lawsuits.
