A TWO-YEAR-OLD law that gives victims of gender-motivated violence the right to bring civil lawsuits is valid and can be applied retroactively, a Manhattan judge ruled yesterday.
The decision is the first substantive ruling on New York City’s Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act, unanimously passed by the City Council in 2000. The measure was drafted in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000), which struck down the civil remedies of the federal Violence Against Women Act.
