If you were sexually abused in New York City — including at a city jail like Rikers Island or a juvenile detention facility — you may qualify for compensation.
New York survivors of sexual abuse have filed a large and growing number of lawsuits against institutions where the abuse occurred, including the New York City Department of Correction. Hundreds of claims allege a pattern of sexual assault by corrections staff at Rikers Island facilities, including the Rose M. Singer Center, with plaintiffs seeking substantial compensation from the city. Separate claims cover abuse at juvenile detention facilities and other New York City institutions.
Filing deadlines for sexual abuse claims in New York depend heavily on when the abuse occurred, the survivor's age at the time, and the specific institution involved — they are not the same for everyone. A free eligibility review is the fastest way to find out what applies to your situation.
Here's what happens after you reach out:
A short set of free eligibility questions about your situation — takes about two minutes.
Our network reviews your answers against current qualifying criteria and reaches out if you may qualify.
You decide whether to move forward. There's never a cost to check your eligibility.
New York's Adult Survivors Act, a temporary law that let adult survivors file civil claims over past sexual abuse regardless of when it happened, produced more than 2,500 lawsuits statewide before its filing window closed in late 2023 — with corrections-related claims against New York City forming the single largest group, including hundreds of lawsuits from women alleging abuse at Rikers Island's Rose M. Singer Center. That specific filing window has closed, but claims tied to these facilities continue to be reported and litigated, and separate filing deadlines can still apply depending on the survivor's age and the details of what happened — which is exactly why an individual eligibility review, not a general article, is the right way to find out where a specific situation stands today.
After overriding former Mayor Eric Adams's veto in January 2026, the New York City Council reopened a temporary window under the city's Gender-Motivated Violence Act. Survivors of older abuse can sue both the abuser and any institution that enabled it, including city jails and juvenile detention centers, until the window closes in 2027.
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