The woman who is suing Academy Award-winning director Paul Haggis for allegedly raping her in his Manhattan apartment is bringing her claim under a little-used civil cause of action for gender-motivated violence created under an 18-year-old New York City law.

And, with Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed’s ruling on Thursday allowing the claim to proceed, publicist Haleigh Breest’s suit, brought in the midst of #MeToo movement, is apparently the first time a claim brought under the local law has survived a motion to dismiss, attorneys and observers say.