Women’s rights activists in Iran have campaigned for a bill against gender-based violence for the past 16 years, and now the government is taking a stand on the issue.

President Hassan Rouhani’s administration on Sunday passed a bill intended to help protect women against domestic and other forms of gender-based violence, according to Al Jazeera.

Cabinet ministers approved the “Protection, Dignity and Security of Women Against Violence” bill, which was introduced during former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration in 2013.

The bill defines violence as “any behavior inflicted on women due to sexuality, vulnerable position, or type of relationship, and inflicts harm to their body, psyche, personality, and dignity, or restricts or deprives them of legal rights and freedoms,” according to Al Jazeera.

Judges finished reviewing the legislation in September 2019 and before it is implemented, parliament must review and approve it, and then it will go to the Guardian Council of jurists and religious experts.

“For decades, Iranian women have been waiting for comprehensive legislation to prevent violence against women and prosecute their abusers,” Tara Sepehri Far, Iran researcher at the organization Human Rights Watch, said in December. “With the growing national attention to this important issue, the law is long overdue, and parliament should not waste any time in adopting it.” Read more via Global Citizen