The New York City Council has recently enacted another amendment to the City’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act (GMVA). This legislation provides an avenue for civil claims to be brought by survivors of “gender-motivated violence.” The Council has enacted this amendment ostensibly to cure defects in the prior legislation which made certain claims susceptible to dismissal through motion practice at the pleading stage. However, there is an appeal pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which is expected to decide whether the GMVA (as amended in 2022) was preempted by the legislative scheme of the Child Victims Act (CVA) and the Adult Survivors Act (ASA). Although the Second Circuit appeal concerns the 2022 amendments, the decision is likely to impact the validity of the latest iteration of the GMVA by determining whether the CVA and ASA preempt revival provisions of the GMVA.
The GMVA is intended to protect individuals from acts of violence with a nexus to New York City which are driven by gender-based motive. Examples include:
- rape or sexual assault
- sexual abuse involving force, coercion, or exploitation
- stalking or intimidation tied to gender or sexual power dynamics
- physical assaults committed as part of gender-based domination or misogynistic intent
- violence targeting someone because of their sex or gender identity
The GMVA is not intended to cover ordinary assaults with no gender component, such as:
- a random bar fight
- a routine workplace altercation
- a physical dispute unrelated to sexual or gender-based motive
Conduct under the GMVA must be motivated at least in part by gender and does not cover bad acts that only involve physical harm.
ASA vs. GMVA
The amended GMVA is similar in purpose to the ASA in that both expand survivors’ access to civil remedies, but the statutes differ.
The ASA is a New York State-wide law which: created a lookback window for time-barred claims (from November 24, 2022 to November 24, 2023) based on sexual offenses defined in the Penal Law which were perpetrated when the claimants were over 18; and increased the statute of limitations to 9 years.
By contrast, the GMVA is a New York City-specific civil cause of action aimed more broadly at “gender-motivated crimes of violence.” Importantly, the GMVA requires that the acts contain a significant nexus to NYC in order for it to fall under the GMVA’s ambit.
Key Timing Provisions
The GMVA, as now amended, creates a civil cause of action for gender-motivated crimes of violence that occurred prior to January 9, 2022, and it imposes a limited filing window:
- Qualifying claims must be commenced within an 18-month revival window (which opened on January 29, 2026 and closes on July 29, 2027)
- Any person who brought a claim between March 1, 2023 and March 1, 2025 which would satisfy the requirements of a cause of action under the newly enacted GMVA may amend or refile their claim to add such cause of action
This provides an opportunity for plaintiffs whose claims may have been dismissed or narrowed under the prior version of the statute to file or add claims.
Litigation Strategy and Exposure Considerations
From a defense and coverage perspective, the amendment may drive a new wave of filings within the next 18 months for:
- Refiled actions that were previously dismissed on technical or procedural grounds
- New lawsuits brought against both individuals and institutional defendants alleged to have enabled or failed to prevent gender-motivated violence
In practice, the new amendment may function in a manner similar to the revival windows of the CVA and ASA by creating an additional pathway for claims that otherwise would have been time-barred. As was the case with the ASA and CVA, there may now be a surge of claims that were previously barred under the prior amendments to the GMVA.
Given the limited filing window, we anticipate:
- A surge of new filings in the near future
- Increased motion practice regarding the applicability, scope, and pleading requirements under the amended GMVA
- Potential strategic use of GMVA counts alongside CVA and ASA claims or other tort claims to expand the damages recoverable
We will continue to monitor how courts interpret the new law, particularly with respect to institutional liability and the interaction with the existing state-wide statutes
