What the Act does
The Illinois Gender Violence Act (740 ILCS 82) lets a person subjected to gender-related
violence bring a civil action for damages, injunctive relief or other relief. It is a distinct
route, separate from an ordinary negligence claim against an institution.
Who can be sued
The Act reaches a person “perpetrating” the violence, and defines that as either personally
committing it or personally encouraging or assisting the act. That second limb
matters: it can reach people who did not themselves commit the assault.
A separate section provides a route against employers, with its own conditions
and its own limitation period, which is longer than the period for some of the underlying
categories.
Time limits
The Act sets different periods depending on which category of gender-related violence is
involved, and a different period again for actions against an employer. Where the person was a
minor when the cause of action arose, the period runs from their 18th birthday rather than from the
incident itself.
Because the categories carry different clocks, which one your situation falls into is a
question worth asking early rather than late.
This page describes Illinois law in general terms. It is not legal advice and it cannot tell you whether your own claim is in time, that depends on facts this page does not know. A conversation costs nothing and will give you a real answer.