New York City Lawyers for Gender Motivated Violence

Various laws protect victims of violence based on their gender and allow them to pursue monetary damages. If you were the victim of gender motivated violence, the seasoned New York City sexual abuse lawyers of Phillips & Associates may be able to represent you in your claims for damages. Here are some frequently asked questions about examples and types of gender-motivated violence.

What is Gender Motivated Violence?

Gender motivated violence exists when someone perpetrates severe emotional psychological, physical and economic harm on a victim due to his or her gender. This kind of violence encompasses rape, gang rape, assault, abuse, and other sex crimes that constitute a misdemeanor or felony. Under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, women and men can seek justice in a civil lawsuit for injuries that arose out of violence in any of the five boroughs that was inflicted because of animus towards the victim’s gender. New York courts recognize that a forcible, nonconsensual sex act is an inherently an act of violence that is motived by gender. 

What Laws Prohibit Gender Motivated Violence?

Laws that prohibit gender motivated violence include the New York City Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Protection Law, and, in the employment context, the New York Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law. When the latter two laws are violated, a victim may be able to pursue damages in a civil suit not only from a perpetrator but also his or her employer. 

Under an amendment to the VGMVPL, from March 2023 – March 2025, both female and male sex abuse survivors of sex-based violence in New York City may be able to seek financial compensation for sexual violence, no matter whether their abuser was a man or a woman, and no matter how long ago the abuse occurred.

What are Examples of Gender Motivated Violence? 

Examples of gender-motivated violence include any act or series of actions that were committed due to a perpetrator’s malice or ill-will against the victim due to his or her gender. Any of the following count as gender motivated violence under the New York City law: 

• Rape
• Gang rape
• Sexual assault
• Abuse
• Sex Trafficking
• Targeted physical abuse based on the victim’s gender
• Sexual harassment
• Stalking
• Forced abortion or sterilization
• Hate speech
• Sex crime in the workplace

If you were, for example, gang-raped on the job by male coworkers because you are a woman, you might have a civil claim to recover damages for gender motivated violence. You would also have a claim against not only your coworkers, but also, potentially, your employer, for workplace sexual harassment. 

Similarly, if you were stalked as you left the subway because you are a woman, and the stalker beat you up and put his hands under your shirt or down your pants to restrain you, this may constitute gender motivated violence even if no intercourse occurred. 

Sex trafficking can also be considered an example of gender motivated violence. If you are a young woman and a famous person lured you to his hotel suite with drugs and alcohol and then exploits you while you are half-unconscious by offering you to a group of friends for sex, this would constitute gender motivated violence. 

What Types of Sexual Assaults Allow You to Seek Damages?

Any sexual assault or abuse that constitutes a felony or misdemeanor under state or federal law and occurs in the five boroughs of New York City may give you grounds to seek damages. For example, if you were touched sexually or intimately by someone trying to gratify his or her sexual desire, or yours, whether directly on your skin or through your clothing, the defendant may be charged under New York Penal Code section 130(3). Similarly, other sexual abuse crimes may allow you to pursue damages under the Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Protection Law. 

When is Targeted Physical Abuse Gender-Motivated Violence? 

Physical abuse may be gender-motivated violence when the perpetrator has “animus” towards the victim due to his or her gender. It’s not enough, usually, for the perpetrator to have a negative attitude towards a particular gender. Rather the perpetrator’s reason for committing the physical abuse must involve either ill-will towards a particular gender or malice towards that gender. For example, if you were beaten up badly on the streets of New York City because you were a woman walking around the city at night, you may have a claim under the VGMVPL. 

Consult a Seasoned New York City Gender Motivated Violence Lawyer

The New York City gender motivated violence lawyers of Phillips & Associates may be able to represent you in a lawsuit for damages. Complete our online form or call us at (212) 248-7431. We represent clients on a contingency fee basis, which means we won’t recover our fees unless we secure compensation for you. Our firm offers free consultations.