The initiative was submitted on 1 March 2006 by "Marche Blanche", an association of victims of child sexual abuse and their relatives, with 119,375 valid signatures. The proponents of the initiative argued that victims of pedophilia often take a long time to become old enough and muster the courage to bring the perpetrators, who are often members of their immediate family, to justice. Therefore, according to the proponents, the statute of limitations often has the effect of preventing the effective prosecution of child sexual abuse.