Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), alongside New York Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R), introduced the bipartisan Fair Housing for Survivors Act in a bid to protect more survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and sex trafficking from eviction and housing discrimination.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is an act that already provides protections to trafficking, domestic, and sexual violence survivors who live in public or Section 8-based housing. The new bill would build upon and modernize the VAWA, expand the same protections to private living accommodations, and encourage states to adopt similar measures.
“We cannot continue to force survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking into an impossible choice between forced confinement with their abusers, or living on the streets,” Rep. Wasserman Schultz said in a press release. “Even as they face daily abuse and exploitation, people are evicted or denied housing based on the outlandish grounds that they’re involved in criminal activity. Discrimination like this, which overwhelmingly hurts women and children, must end now.”
According to data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline, one in three women and one in four men experience violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Ninety percent of homeless women report severe physical or sexual violence in their lives, including sexual exploitation and trafficking. And 84 percent of survivors in domestic violence shelters reported that they needed help finding affordable housing.
“Every survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking deserves a safe place to call home,” Rep. Malliotakis said in a statement.
If enacted, the Fair Housing for Survivors Act would:
- Build on protections in the Violence Against Women Act with respect to domestic violence and expand those to private housing.
- Add 'survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and severe forms of trafficking’ to the list of protected classes under the Fair Housing Act, establishing a clear standard across the country that those victimized by domestic violence, sexual violence, or sex trafficking cannot be evicted or otherwise penalized for being victims of those crimes.
- Allows the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual violence more effectively.
- Encourage more states to adopt similar protections at the state level.
The bill is also being led in the Senate by New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D).
