NOW-NYC advocates for laws that defend our rights and break barriers for women and girls. We work to advance economic opportunity and fairness in the workplace, protect and expand reproductive rights, and strengthen our criminal justice system for victims of gender-based violence.
New York City Legislation
No More 24 Act
The No More 24 Act would end the 24-hour workday for home attendants, mandating that all 24-hour shifts be split into two 12-hour shifts. Additionally, it would cap the maximum number of hours worked for home attendants to 50 hours per week.
In New York City, home attendants–predominantly immigrant women of color–are forced to work sleepless 24-hour shifts, for multiple days in a row. They care for our elderly, disabled, or severely ill loved ones who need 24-hour care. Everywhere else in the world, 24-hour home care work is split into 8- or 12-hour shifts. 24-hour workdays destroy workers’ bodies and families, and endanger patients’ lives.
Bill Number:
Int 0615-2024Sponsor:
Council Member Christopher MarteHelp Give NYC Women the Information to Negotiate Equal Pay!
When women have access to information about pay and pay gaps, we are in a better position to negotiate for fair pay as both applicants and employees. While the 2022 Salary Range Disclosure law has proven to be a great success, and inspired action to pass a similar law at the state level, it doesn’t go far enough.
Intro 808A:
- Requires employers to include job descriptions--not just titles--in job postings.
- Requires employers to disclose to current employees--not just applicants--the current range of compensation (not just salary, but benefits and bonuses too) for a current employee’s job title and other substantially similar positions.
Bill Number :
Int 808ASponsor:
Council Member Selvena Brooks-PowersHelp NYC Join the Global Movement for Pay Data Reporting -- If We Don't Track It, We Can't Improve It!
Help get two new pay gap reporting bills pass; they require private sector employers to analyze and report on important anonymized pay data from their workforce. Employers will be accountable to uncover their pay inequities by reporting mean & median gender/ racial pay gaps and gender/racial breakdowns of quartile pay categories.
Sponsor:
Council Member Tiffany Caban / Council Member Amanda FariasNew York State Legislation
Repealing the Statute of Limitations on Sex Trafficking
The continual flow of state and federal cases have clearly exposed the callous, brutal nature of the third-party profiteers/promoters who use threats, blackmail, trickery and violence to recruit, coerce and force the most vulnerable individuals into prostitution/the sex trade. This bill is critical to New York’s ability to protect survivors of human trafficking and hold those who exploit them for profit accountable.The trauma, fear and stigma associated with being bought and sold in prostitution and abused and threatened by pimps can take years to overcome, and delays in reporting these crimes of sexual violence. New York’s rape laws statute of limitations have been eliminated and extended and the Child’s Victim Act, followed by the Adult Survivors Act, expanded the window for survivors of sex abuse to file civil suits.
Sponsor:
Senator Cordell Cleare / Assemblymember Jeffrey DinowitzVoluntary Intoxication Exclusion Act
The Voluntary Intoxication Exclusion Act would bridge the gap in a major discrepancy within New York law. Someone who voluntarily becomes intoxicated and is then sexually assaulted is not granted the same legal protections as someone who is sexually assaulted while involuntarily intoxicated. This inconsistency in New York law makes it incredibly difficult for victims of sexual assault to receive equal protections under the law. This bill, if passed, would make a victim's status and nature of intoxication unable to be used in the defense of a sex crimes case.
Sponsors:
Senator Nathalia Fernandez / Assemblyman Jeffrey DinowitzIncreasing Access to Abortion
This bill would allow pharmacists to administer FDA approved reversible progestin-only contraceptive injections, similar to their existing ability to dispense self-administered hormonal contraceptives. Pharmacists would be required to complete specific training and, within 72 hours of administration, notify the patient's primary healthcare practitioner (unless the patient opts out). Patients would be provided with a self-screening risk assessment questionnaire and a fact sheet developed by the health commissioner, covering clinical considerations, usage instructions, and healthcare referral information.
Sponsors:
Senator Lea Webb / Assemblymember John T. McDonaldSex Trade Survivors Justice & Equality Act
The legislation — based on a progressive legal framework supported by survivors of prostitution and sex trafficking now known as the Equality Model — decriminalizes people in prostitution in New York, while also vacating and expunging past convictions. It also gives survivors of commercial sexual exploitation access to comprehensive, trauma-informed services. The proposed legislation does not change laws against sex buying, promoting prostitution, brothel owning or sex tourism operations - all will remain fully illegal, and these exploiters will be held legally accountable for these crimes.
Sponsors:
Senator Liz Krueger / Assemblymember Pamela HunterSara’s Law: Child's Sex Crimes Victim Act
S6358/A2712 would protect child sex trafficking survivors from being prosecuted as
adults for charges which arose from acts forced by their trafficker or when they have
been alleged to commit a crime against their trafficker. This legislation enables children
charged with crimes, or adults who were charged as children, to request a hearing to
determine if the person they are accused of harming ever committed a sex act against
them or if the alleged charges were a direct result of child trafficking.
The bill is named for Sara Kruzan, who at age 17, was sentenced to life in prison
for killing her trafficker who had groomed her since the age of 11 for a life of exploitation in the sex trade. Sara was shown no compassion by a judicial system that tried her as an
adult, and neither her age nor the extreme trauma she had experienced were taken into
account. This bill would authorize judges to consider the impact of trauma and
exploitation on survivors of child trafficking in these cases.
Sponsors:
Assemblymember Amy Paulin/ Senator Cordell CleareBan Virginity Testing
The invasive and sexist practice of so-called “virginity testing” is still happening in the U.S. Subjecting girls to any form of “virginity testing” is just another form of sexual assault and a direct violation of their bodily integrity and privacy. The practice reflects the antiquated and oppressive standards society still holds for girls and young women, and it is in no way accepted as valid by the medical community. In fact, the United Nations and the World Health Organization co-wrote a statement calling to end virginity testing around the world. This legislation would ban virginity testing in New York State, prohibiting medical practitioners from performing these examinations and subjecting them to penalties if they breach the ban. Any “virginity tests” performed outside of a professional medical setting would be considered sexual assault under the proposal.
Sponsors:
Assemblymember Michaelle Solages / Senator Roxanne PersaudExpanding Transparency in Job Postings for Everyone in New York State
In 2023, New York’s groundbreaking statewide salary range transparency law went into effect. This law required employers with 4 or more employees to include a salary range in every job posting. Salary transparency is absolutely key to closing the persisting gender and racial pay gap in New York – when workers have access to information about pay and pay gaps, they are in a better position to negotiate for fair pay as both applicants and employees, and to seek out employers that pay better. While the Salary Range Disclosure law has proven to be a great success, it doesn’t go far enough. The NYS Assembly and Senate have introduced matching bills to strengthen and expand the groundbreaking salary range transparency law.
Sponsors:
Assemblymember Alex Bores / Senator Jessica RamosLet NYS Pharmacists Provide Injectable Contraception
Women throughout New York State deserve accessible contraception, and this critical legislation will ease access to injectable contraceptives. The bill allows pharmacists to administer contraceptive injections. The Senate has already passed tihs bill and we have Governor Hochul’s support--we need your help to secure passage of this key bill in the Assembly. Take action today to support women seeking to control their reproductive health, and the medical professionals trying to help them.
Sponsors:
Assemblymember John T. McDonald III / Senator Lea WebbFederal Legislation
Women’s Health Protection Act
Protects the right to abortion access by creating a safeguard against medically unnecessary restrictions or bans. Specifically, the Act would protect abortion access from bans prior to viability, restrictions on the ability to access medication abortion in the earliest weeks of pregnancy, requirements that doctors provide medically inaccurate or even false information to abortion seekers, and mandates for pregnant people to undergo invasive ultrasounds or waiting periods before allowing them to have an abortion.
Sponsors:
Congressmember Judy Chu / Senator Tammy BaldwinBlack Maternal Health Momnibus
A series of bills that will address the black maternal mortality rate. The bills will: invest in housing, transportation, nutrition, and other social determinants of health that influence maternal health outcomes; provide funding to community-based organizations; study maternal health risks facing women veterans and invest in VA maternity care coordination; grow and diversify the perinatal workforce; improve data collection to better understand the causes and solutions of the maternal health crisis; invest in maternal mental health care and substance use disorder treatments; improve maternal health care for incarcerated women; invest in digital tools like telehealth for underserved areas; and incentivize high-quality maternity care and continuity of health insurance coverage from pregnancy through one year postpartum.
Sponsors:
Congressmember Lauren Underwood / Senator Cory BookerEqual Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act
Would ensure access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare for all women, regardless of their income level or source of their insurance coverage. If passed, this legislation will repeal the 1976 Hyde Amendment that made it illegal to use federal funds for abortion coverage.