Zonta International is a global organization of individuals dedicated to building a better world for women and girls. The Zonta USA Advocacy Action Center is a tool for our members in the United States and other individuals who share our commitment to gender equality to take action to improve the lives of women and girls. With your help, we can make a difference..
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three women and one in four men in the United States experience violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Data from the National Network to End Domestic Violence further show that nearly 90% of homeless women have experienced severe physical or sexual violence, and that more than half of survivors who request housing assistance do not receive it.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), along with Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in the Senate, have introduced the Fair Housing for Survivors Act (H.R.7856 & S.4006). This legislation would expand existing protections under the Violence Against Women Act to include private housing—ensuring survivors cannot be evicted or denied housing simply for being victims of abuse.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides legal protections to trafficking and domestic and sexual violence survivors who live in public or Section 8-based housing. Yet the same eviction and discrimination safeguards do not exist for those who face similar abuses and seek housing in the private market. The Fair Housing for Survivors Act would build up current federal protections, expand them to private living accommodations, and encourage states to adopt similar measures.
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 protections 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.
- Allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice to more effectively protect victims of domestic violence and sexual violence.
- Encourage more states to adopt similar protections at the state level.
“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,” said Wasserman Schultz. “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.”
“I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the Fair Housing for Survivors Act to ensure survivors have the necessary resources to rebuild their lives free from abuse, protect them from unfair discrimination in the private housing market and provide them with support to escape abusive environments,” said Malliotakis.
Together, we can ensure that no survivor is forced to choose between abuse and homelessness.
Please use our pre-drafted letters to urge your senators and representative to co-sponsor and support the Fair Housing for Survivors Act (H.R.7856 & S.4006). If they have already sponsored or co-sponsored the bill, you can send a message of thanks.