Chapter 9 - ACTIONS BY VICTIMS OF GENDER-MOTIVATED VIOLENCE

Section 8-901

Section 8-901

  §  8-901 Short Title. This local law shall be known as the "Victims of
Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act".

Section 8-902

Section 8-902

  §    8-902   Declaration   of   Legislative   Findings   and   Intent.
Gender-motivated  violence  inflicts  serious  physical,  psychological,
emotional  and economic harm on its victims. Congressional findings have
documented that gender-motivated violence is widespread  throughout  the
United  States, representing the leading cause of injuries to women ages
15 to 44. Further statistics have shown that three  out  of  four  women
will  be  the victim of a violent crime sometime during their lives, and
as many as four million women a year are victims of  domestic  violence.
Senate hearings, various task forces and the United States Department of
Justice   have  concluded  that  victims  of  gender-motivated  violence
frequently face a climate of condescension indifference and hostility in
the court system  and  have  documented  the  legal  system's  hostility
towards sexual assault and domestic violence claims.
  Recognizing this widespread problem, Congress in 1994 provided victims
of  gender-motivated  violence  with  a cause of action in federal court
through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) (42 USC § 13981). In a May
15, 2000 decision,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  held  that  the
Constitution  provided no basis for a federal cause of action by victims
of gender-motivated violence against their perpetrators either under the
Commerce Clause  or  the  Equal  Protection  Clause  of  the  Fourteenth
Amendment. In so ruling the Court held that it could "think of no better
example  of  the  police  power,  which the Founders denied the National
Government and reposed in the States, than the  suppression  of  violent
crime and vindication of its victims."
  In  light  of  the  void  left  by  the Supreme Court's decision, this
Council finds that victims of gender-motivated violence  should  have  a
private   right   of   action   against  their  perpetrators  under  the
Administrative Code. This private right of action aims  to  resolve  the
difficulty  that  victims face in seeking court remedies by providing an
officially sanctioned and legitimate cause of action for seeking redress
for injuries resulting from gender-motivated violence.

Section 8-903

Section 8-903

  § 8-903 Definitions. For purposes of this chapter:
  a.  "Crime  of  violence"  means  an  act or series of acts that would
constitute a misdemeanor or felony against  the  person  as  defined  in
state  or  federal  law or that would constitute a misdemeanor or felony
against property as defined in state  or  federal  law  if  the  conduct
presents  a  serious  risk of physical injury to another, whether or not
those acts have actually resulted in criminal charges,  prosecution,  or
conviction.
  b.  "Crime  of violence motivated by gender" means a crime of violence
committed because of gender or on the basis of gender, and due, at least
in part, to an animus based on the victim's gender.

Section 8-904

Section 8-904

  §  8-904  Civil  Cause of Action. Except as otherwise provided by law,
any person claiming to be injured by an individual who commits  a  crime
of  violence  motivated  by  gender  as defined in section 8-903 of this
chapter, shall have a cause of action against  such  individual  in  any
court of competent jurisdiction for any or all of the following relief:
  1. compensatory and punitive damages;
  2. injunctive and declaratory relief;
  3. attorneys' fees and costs;
  4. such other relief as a court may deem appropriate.

Section 8-905

Section 8-905

  §  8-905  Limitations.  a.  A  civil action under this chapter must be
commenced within  seven  years  after  the  alleged  crime  of  violence
motivated  by  gender  as  defined  in  section  8-903  of  this chapter
occurred. If, however, due to injury or disability resulting from an act
or acts giving rise to a cause of action under this chapter, or  due  to
infancy  as  defined  in  the  civil  procedure  law and rules, a person
entitled to commence an action under this chapter is unable to do so  at
the  time  such  cause of action accrues, then the time within which the
action must be commenced shall be extended  to  seven  years  after  the
inability to commence the action ceases.
  b.  Except  as  otherwise  permitted  by  law, nothing in this chapter
entitles a person to a cause of  action  for  random  acts  of  violence
unrelated  to  gender  or  for  acts  that  cannot  be  demonstrated, by
preponderance of the evidence, to be motivated by gender as  defined  in
section 8-903.
  c.  Nothing  in  this  section  requires  a  prior criminal complaint,
prosecution or conviction to establish the elements of a cause of action
under this chapter.

Section 8-906

Section 8-906

  § 8-906 Burden of Proof. Conviction of a crime arising out of the same
transaction,  occurrence or event giving rise to a cause of action under
this chapter shall be considered  conclusive  proof  of  the  underlying
facts  of  that  crime  for  purposes  of  an  action brought under this
chapter. That such crime was a crime of  violence  motivated  by  gender
must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence.

Section 8-907

Section 8-907

  §  8-907  Severability.  If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any  reason,  declared
unconstitutional  or  invalid,  in  whole  or  in  part, by any court of
competent jurisdiction such portion shall be deemed severable, and  such
unconstitutionality  or  invalidity shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this law, which remaining portions shall  continue
in full force and effect.