A state senator from Berks County has introduced legislation that would, if enacted, prohibit non-disclosure agreements in the settlement of civil claims for sexual assault or harassment.

While conceding it is new legal territory for Pennsylvania, Sen. Judy Schwank said she hopes her bill, by removing a tried-and-true safety net for perpetrators, is an attempt to help to change a culture that badly needs changing.

Schwank's proposal, rolled out at a Capitol press conference Wednesday, would bar any contract or out-of-court settlement from containing provisions that:

* Prohibit disclosure of the name of any person suspected of sexual misconduct or any information relevant to a claim.

* Would block reports of such claims to an "appropriate person."

* Requires the destruction or expungement of related evidence.

The bill would, however, grant a shield of confidentiality to victims making allegations of abuse, giving them rights similar to juveniles in a child welfare case who can have cases brought through their initials or other identifiers.

Schwank's proposal follows a torrent of accusations that have flowed this fall against high-profile men in the entertainment, political and media worlds who have moved from victim to victim through a collection of non-disclosure agreements.

In a sense, Pennsylvania was already there:

This spring, in a harbinger of things to come, once-beloved actor / comedian Bill Cosby went to trial in Montgomery County on a sexual assault allegation that had been kept under wraps for years.

Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks

The intent is simple enough, Schwank, a Democrat, said.

She wants victims to be fully empowered to speak up about what happened, who did it, and to seek damages for it; and she doesn't want to continue to permit "safe spaces" that keep bad actors' actions hidden.

"I believe more and more people are seeing just how harmful these agreements are to women... and how they actually enable sexual harassment to grow like a cancer in workplaces, schools and the community," Schwank said.

"We can no longer grant predators and enablers a place to hide, a place to continue to ambush the unaware and the vulnerable."

The proposed legislation may run into resistance, however, from some members of the state's trial bar.

While not taking a position on the legislation itself Wednesday, Harrisburg attorney Sarah Yerger said the provisions, as described, "could be an impediment to settling these cases.

"I'm not sure I would recommend a settlement if my client, who is an employer, could have this issue raised again and again," Yerger noted.

Forcing more cases into the courts would be one way to expose potential predators, to be sure. But it also could make it that much more difficult and costly for an accuser to get justice.

Others predicted insurers and other groups might raise questions about setting one set of rules for sexual misconduct claims, and another set for everything else.

Supporters, however, said Schwank's bill is the kind of legislation that's needed to change a dark culture of sexual violence and harassment that has persisted for too long by giving survivors the right to tell their stories if they want to, and as they see fit.

Sen. Anthony Williams, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said the bill flips the paradigm in the victim's favor to a degree that he hopes will have a major deterrent effect on the problem.

"The perpetrator will be revealed, and you will still pay, and probably pay more because there will be more evidence and more people participating" in the case, the senator said.

California is the only state that has this kind of non-disclosure ban in place at present, according to Senate Democratic caucus staffers, and it only applies to cases that would rise to the level of felony charges.

A spokeswoman for the Senate Republican majority said Schwank's bill is one of a number pending this session that seek to enhance victim's rights, and that all will get a careful review as the session progresses.