Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday extending the amount of time for victims of rape and incest to report those crimes.

The bill extends the statute of limitations for second degree rape or a criminal sexual act in the second degree to 20 years and third-degree rape or criminal sexual acts to 10 years. The previous law only allowed for five years to report.

The new legislation also provides for ten years for incest in the second degree and eliminates the statute of limitations entirely for first degree incest. Finally, it increases the time limit to 20 years for victims in these cases to take civil action.

“There has been an ongoing and pervasive culture of sexual harassment and abuse in our society, and it is made worse by the fact that victims of second and third degree rape only have five years to bring a legal claim against their attacker. Five years is an insult to these survivors and today we’re providing them more time to come to terms with the trauma they experienced and to seek justice,” Cuomo said. “This new law recognizes the injustice that has gone on for far too long and honors all the women who have suffered this pain and all the advocates who had the courage to come forward and tell their story so that other women may be spared the pain.”

The governor joined leaders of the Time's Up movement in NYC-Now to sign the bill. His office said many victims have broken their silence over the last year about abuse they have dealt with for decades.

Cuomo proposed the legislation as part of his 2019 Women’s Justice Agenda and included it in his Executive Budget. His office said after the Legislature did not adopt it in the final budget, he made another push to include it in the final days of session.

“Thank you so much to Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for passing this very important bill. I am proud to be a New Yorker and grateful that so many survivors will be able to seek the justice they deserve,” said actress Julieanne Moore, who co-authored an op-ed with Cuomo on the issue and helped launch Time's Up.

The legislation is effective immediately however unlike the Child Victims Act it does not create a look back window. That means people who have already seen the statute of limitations expire cannot take action but victims moving forward will have more time.