Do federal and state housing laws protect survivors of domestic violence?
The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that (among other things) prohibits landlords from discriminating on the basis of sex. It applies to both private and government-subsidized housing. The ACLU and other advocates have argued that housing actions or policies that discriminate against domestic violence survivors can constitute illegal sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act when they are based on gender stereotypes or have a disparate impact on women. In Ms. Lewis’ situation, the landlord apparently assumed that a victim of domestic violence was responsible for the actions of her batterer and thus punished her for his crimes, despite the protective order she had against him. Another federal law, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), grants explicit protections to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking who live in public housing or Section 8-subsidized housing. Public housing authorities and section 8 owners cannot deny admission to or (with very narrow excep
