New Amendment To NYC’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act (GMVA) Expands Survivors’ Rights And Reopens Lookback Window Through July 2027

On January 29, 2026, New York City took a major step forward for survivors of gender-based violence with the passage of Bill 1297-A, which amends the city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act (“GMVA”). The NYC Council passed Bill 1297-A unanimously (48-0) in November 2025, and after then-Mayor Adams vetoed the legislation, the Council overrode the veto on January 29, 2026, enacting it as Law 2026/050. The amendment significantly expands survivors’ rights by reviving previously expired claims until July 2027 and allowing institutions to face increased accountability for enabling gender-based violence.

This amendment to the GMVA represents a major win for survivors of gender-motivated violence in New York City, including those who have experienced sexual abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, trafficking, and other forms of gender-based harm.

Below is what survivors need to know about the GMVA and the rights created by the 2026 amendment.

What Is the Gender-Motivated Violence Act?

The GMVA is a New York City law, originally enacted in 2000 and codified at NYC Administrative Code Title 10, Chapter 11, that allows survivors of crimes involving gender-motivated violence to bring civil claims against those responsible.

Importantly, the GMVA allows survivors to pursue civil claims even if the perpetrator was never criminally charged or convicted.

The GMVA was enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the civil remedy provision of the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in United States v. Morrison (2000). New York City passed the GMVA to fill that gap, ensuring that survivors of gender-motivated violence in the five boroughs retained a meaningful civil cause of action. In 2019, the landmark appellate ruling in Breest v. Haggis held that sexual assault is inherently gender-motivated, significantly strengthening GMVA claims for survivors.

Under the law, gender-motivated violence refers to harmful conduct committed in part because of hostility or bias towards a person’s gender.

Since its enactment, the GMVA has been used to assert civil claims for many types of gender-based violence, including:

• Sexual assault
• Domestic violence
• Workplace sexual violence
• Gender-based stalking or false imprisonment
• Sex trafficking
• Sexual abuse, including child sexual abuse

The New GMVA Amendment Opens a Critical Civil Window

The 2026 amendment expands the GMVA in several critical ways.

Most importantly, it creates a new 18-month civil “lookback window” allowing survivors to bring GMVA claims that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.

Under the GMVA, the statute of limitations is generally seven years, with some GMVA claims having a nine-year statute of limitations under certain conditions, such as if the survivor became injured or disabled from the gender-motivated violence. Prior to the new civil window, many survivors could not pursue GMVA claims because the violence occurred long ago, outside the GMVA’s statute of limitations. The new civil window now allows those survivors to seek justice.

The civil window runs from January 29, 2026 (the date the amendment was enacted) through July 29, 2027. This new window applies to claims arising before January 9, 2022, including claims originating before the GMVA’s enactment in December 2000.

By restoring these GMVA claims, the amendment helps align law with the reality frequently confronting victims of gender-based harm. Survivors often need years, or decades, before they feel ready to come forward. Research underscores this point. For example, according to Child USA, the average age at which survivors of child sexual abuse disclose their abuse is 52. Research also shows that over 70% of victims do not disclose within five years of the abuse.

Because trauma frequently delays disclosure for years or even decades, civil windows like the one created by the new GMVA amendment are essential. They ensure survivors are not permanently denied justice for needing time to come forward, and they provide a meaningful opportunity to pursue accountability when survivors are ready.

The Amendment Fixes a Major Gap in the Prior Law

The amendment also addresses a significant limitation under the previous version of the GMVA.

New York City passed a similar civil window under the GMVA in 2022, catalyzing hundreds of lawsuits by survivors. Some courts subsequently held, however, that the 2022 civil window did not apply to claims arising prior to the GMVA’s 2000 enactment. As a result, many survivors who experienced gender-based violence long ago were excluded from pursuing their claims under the 2022 civil window.

The 2026 amendment corrects this problem by explicitly allowing survivors to pursue GMVA claims that arose before the Act’s enactment. Thus, even if you experienced gender-based violence in New York City many decades ago, the 2026 amendment gives you until July 2027 to assert your GMVA claims.

Survivors With Previously Filed Cases May Refile

The new amendment also provides relief for survivors whose lawsuits were previously dismissed under the old GMVA framework.

If a survivor filed a lawsuit containing GMVA-based claims between March 1, 2023 and March 1, 2025, they may now amend or refile their case during the new civil window to assert a GMVA claim under the amended law.

This gives survivors whose cases were previously dismissed a new opportunity to seek justice.

The New GMVA Amendment Allows Claims Against Institutions

Another major feature of the new amendment is that it allows survivors to bring GMVA claims against institutions that enabled gender-motivated violence.

As of 2022, the GMVA permitted claims against institutions. Hundreds of survivors relied on this change to bring GMVA claims against a variety of organizations. But some New York courts subsequently held that many of these claims could not proceed against institutions because the gender-motivated violence occurred prior to the 2022 amendment.[1] As a result, the old GMVA framework barred survivors from bringing GMVA claims against institutional enablers for pre-2022 gender-motivated violence.

The 2026 amendment changes that. The new amendment explicitly allows survivors whose claims arose before 2022 to pursue their GMVA claims against enabling institutions during the civil window. Thus, if your claims arose prior to January 2022, you now have until July 2027 to pursue your GMVA claims against both individual perpetrators and enabling institutions, even if the violence occurred decades ago.

The new amendment specifically allows GMVA claims against any party that directed, enabled, participated in, or conspired in the commission of gender-based violence. Institutions covered by the new amendment include organizations that had a legal duty to keep the claimant safe but instead enabled gender-based violence.

Examples of enabling institutions include but are not limited to:

• Schools that ignore prior complaints of sexual abuse or fail to supervise staff and students.
• Employers that refuse to investigate workplace sexual harassment or assault.
• Hotels or businesses that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking on their premises.
• Government-run facilities that allow sexual violence to run rampant and fail to keep patients, inmates, or residents safe.
• Private or public foster care agencies that neglect to protect foster children from sexual predators.
• Religious institutions, including churches and dioceses, that conceal or fail to address allegations of sexual abuse by clergy or staff.
• Colleges and universities that mishandle Title IX complaints or fail to protect students from sexual violence.

This provision is particularly significant because gender-motivated violence rarely occurs in a vacuum. Institutions often allow abuse to persist by ignoring warning signs, failing to act on complaints, or prioritizing reputation over safety. Holding those institutions accountable is essential to achieving comprehensive justice for survivors and driving systemic change.

The conditions that allow abuse to flourish often remain unchanged without institutional accountability. Thus, when institutions face real legal consequences for enabling gender-motivated violence, they are far more likely to adopt policies and practices that prevent future harm.

What Compensation Can Survivors Recover Under the GMVA?

Survivors who bring GMVA claims may seek several types of relief, including:

Compensatory Damages

These damages may include compensation for:

• Emotional distress
• Medical expenses
• Therapy and mental health treatment
• Lost income or reduced earning capacity
• Physical injuries
• Other related costs

Punitive damages

In cases involving particularly egregious conduct, courts may award additional financial damages to punish the wrongdoer.

Injunctive relief

Courts may also order non-monetary remedies, such as requiring institutions to change policies or implement new safety procedures to prevent future violence.

Do You Qualify to Bring a GMVA Claim?

You may be able to bring a claim under the GMVA if:

1. You experienced violence that:
   • Occurred in one of New York City’s five boroughs;
   • Qualifies as a crime under state or federal law; and
   • Was motivated at least in part by hostility or bias towards your gender.
   • Note: A criminal charge or conviction is not required to bring a GMVA civil claim.
2. You want to bring claims against:
   • The person who committed the gender-motivated violence and/or
   • The person or institution that directed, enabled, participated in, or conspired in the gender-motivated violence.
   • Note: If the violence occurred before January 9, 2022, you must bring your GMVA claim before the civil window closes in July 2027. If the violence occurred on or after January 9, 2022, you must bring your GMVA claim within seven years or, if certain conditions apply, within nine years. It is important to contact an attorney early to evaluate the timing of your GMVA claim.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.