TREY'S Law

Key Points

• This bill makes any secrecy clause in a contract void and unenforceable if it prevents a victim, alleged victim, or witness from talking about the sexual abuse of a child. This means abusers and institutions can no longer use legal agreements to silence survivors or keep crimes hidden.
• The law applies retroactively to all contracts, including those signed years or even decades ago. No one can enforce or try to enforce a banned secrecy clause, no matter when the agreement was originally signed.
• While the bill voids secrecy clauses about abuse, it still allows victims and other parties to keep financial details of their settlements private. A victim can agree to keep the dollar amount of a settlement confidential, as long as the agreement does not block them from disclosing the abuse itself.
• The bill overrides state laws that allow enforcement of these secrecy clauses, but it does not stop states from passing their own laws that go further in protecting victims of child sexual abuse.
• Congress finds that these nondisclosure agreements have been used to block reporting to law enforcement, child protection agencies, federal regulators, and courts, frustrating the investigation and prosecution of federal crimes against children.