NFHTA Forum | Violence Against Women Act, Part 1: Understanding Survivors' Experiences

NFHTA Q&A: Violence Against Women Act, Part 1: Understanding Survivors' Experiences

Date Published: January 2023

This document answers questions frequently asked during the NFHTA October 2022 Forum: Violence Against Women Act, Part 1: Understanding Survivors' Experiences.

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NFHTA Video Bites: Violence Against Women Act: Understanding Survivors' Experiences, Episode 1

Date Published: January 2023

This video clip is a segment from the October 2022 NFHTA forum "Violence Against Women Act, Part 1: Understanding Survivors' Experiences". In this clip, Cristina Cortes, Survivor Services Program Manager with the Los Angeles City Community Investment for Families Department, discusses how critical training is for staff, especially those who are new. She goes on to talk about managing a survivor%u2019s expectations by providing updates consistently and regularly. Cristina concludes by emphasizing the importance of maintaining survivors%u2019 records, documentation, and overall confidentiality.

Please note that that this forum clip features information and examples that represent the experiences of the speaker. Comments do not necessarily reflect the policies of HUD.

White House: Fact Sheet: Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Date Published: March 16, 2022

This White House fact sheet details how VAWA 2022 Reauthorization builds on and strengthens VAWA.

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VAWA 2022 Reauthorization: Section-by-Section Summary

Date Published: February 9, 2022

See the summary of Title VI - Safe Homes for Victims on page 7.

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HUD: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Implementation in HUD Housing Programs (Final Rule)

Date Published: November 16, 2016

This final rule implements in HUD's regulations the requirements of the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which applies for all victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, regardless of sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, and which must be applied consistent with all nondiscrimination and fair housing requirements.

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Department of Justice (DOJ): Office on Violence Against Women

This DOJ webpage contains linked resources and descriptions of OVW's work.

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The National Housing Law Project (NHLP)

The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) provides numerous webinar trainings and resources on the housing provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Fair Housing Act, and state law housing protections for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

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Domestic Violence Counts: 16th Annual Report

Date Published: March 21, 2022

For the sixteenth consecutive year, on September 9, 2021, the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) conducted our Domestic Violence Counts Survey: a one-day, unduplicated count of adults and children seeking domestic violence services in the United States. This annual survey documents the number of people who sought services in a single 24-hour period, as well as the types of services requested, the number of service requests that went unmet due to a lack of resources, and the issues and barriers that domestic violence programs face as they strive to provide services to victims of domestic violence.

HUD, Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Enforcement of Local Nuisance and Crime-Free Housing Ordinances Against Victims of Domestic Violence, Other Crime Victims, and Others Who Require Police or Emergency Services

Date Published: September 12, 2016

This guidance explains how the growing number of local nuisance and crime-free housing ordinances may subject survivors to discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. While the guidance pre-dates VAWA 2022 and thus is limited to discussion under the Fair Housing Act, it may be helpful to understanding such ordinances for purposes of VAWA 2022's provision protecting people's right to report crime.

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VAWA Resources For Multifamily Assisted Housing

HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing Programs website provides links to HUD VAWA forms for survivors and advocates as well as other VAWA-related HUD information and guidance specifically for multifamily housing properties.

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HUD, Office of Public and Indian Housing Notice PIH-2017-08 (HA) Guidance on Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 Guidance

Date Published: May 19, 2017

This notice provides guidance to Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and owners on the requirements of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Implementation in HUD Housing Programs, Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on November 16, 2016, (81 Fed. Reg. 80724 (November 16, 2016)) (VAWA Final Rule) with respect to the Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs. This notice does not encompass every aspect of the VAWA Final Rule and should be used in conjunction with the VAWA Final Rule.

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HUD, Office of Housing Guidance on VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2013 Additional Guidance for Multifamily Owners and Management Agents

Date Published: June 30, 2017

This notice provides guidance to owners and management agents (O/As) of HUD multifamily assisted housing on the requirements of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Implementation in HUD Housing Programs, Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on November 16, 2016, (81 Fed. Reg. 80724 (November 16, 2016)) (VAWA Final Rule). This notice does not encompass every aspect of the VAWA Final Rule and should be used in conjunction with the VAWA Final Rule.

Calling 911 Shouldn't Lead to an Eviction

Date Published: March 15, 2022

This article authored by Sandra Park, Senior Staff Attorney with ACLU Women's Rights Project, discusses how the reauthorization of the VAWA will help ensure that people who report emergencies don't get evicted as a result.

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SILENCED: How Nuisance Ordinances Punish Crime Victims in New York

Date Published: June 2015

This report was issued by the ACLU Women's Rights Project, in partnership with the Social Science Research Council. Published in 2015, this report discusses the growing national trend at that time of local nuisance ordinances, their often-unintended consequences on both individuals and public safety as a whole, and the legal liability municipalities faced when enforcing them. Additionally, the report explores how these ordinances impacted residents in communities across New York where they were implemented and enforced. This report also outlined how nuisance ordinances created consequences for victims of crime, survivors of domestic violence, persons with disabilities, communities of color, and communities as a whole.

Safe Housing Partnerships Website

This website, Safe Housing Partnerships, highlights the Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium (the Consortium). This project is sponsored under awards from the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office on Violence Against Women and the Office for Victims of Crime at the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The interagency collaboration established this domestic violence and housing technical assistance consortium to provide national domestic violence and housing training and resource development. Funded by the Consortium, the Safe Housing Partnerships website offers data, research, and resources related to the intersectionality of gender-based violence, housing, and homelessness.

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The National Domestic Violence Hotline

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the National Domestic Violence Hotline provides essential tools and support to help survivors of domestic violence so they can live their lives free of abuse.

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National Network to End Domestic Violence

The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) is dedicated to creating a social, political, and economic environment in which violence against women no longer exists. NNEDV's vision is to make domestic violence a national priority, change the way society responds to domestic violence, and strengthen domestic violence advocacy at every level.

Ujima, Inc.: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community

Ujima, Inc: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community is a national, culturally-specific resource center that provides support to and is a voice for the Black Community in response to domestic, sexual, and community violence. Ujima's resource page includes links to webinars on a range of topics, including how culturally specific organizations can engage with their local continuums of care and the intersectionality of racism, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

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The National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault (SCESA)

The National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault (SCESA) is an advocacy organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for Women of Color and Communities of Color. SCESA's resource page provides links to sexual assault organizations serving survivors in the Asian Pacific Islander, Black/African American, Latina and Native communities. SCESA's purpose is to give voice and develop action strategies that incorporate and address the experiences and realities of Women of Color and Communities of Color.

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Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API)

The Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API) is a national training and technical assistance provider and a clearinghouse on gender violence in Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. API's website provides a collection of resources related to domestic violence, sexual assault, safety planning, and other related topics in Asian and Pacific Islander languages and culturally specific information on a range of advocacy topics.

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Esperanza United

Esperanza United offers training, technical assistance, and critical resources to help support Latina survivors, families, and communities to gain greater safety, connectedness, and self-sufficiency.

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National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence

The Los Angeles LGBT Center has launched the National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) to deliver training and technical assistance for public and private agencies to provide culturally relevant, survivor-centered LGBTQ IPV intervention and prevention services, including to LGBTQ persons from racially and ethnically diverse communities.

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The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center's Tribal Safe Housing Center

The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center's Tribal Safe Housing Center resource page provides culturally rooted resources to support Tribes, Tribal programs, and advocates working to address the intersection of housing instability/homeless and gender-based violence.

Improving Safe Housing Access for Domestic Violence Survivors Through Systems Change

Date Published: September 2021

This study examined an innovative approach employed by Los Angeles County's homeless system to help survivors navigate between housing and homelessness (H/H), coordinated entry (CE), and domestic violence (DV) service systems to access safe housing through the deployment of DV coordinators as systems change agents. Factors contributing to the successes and challenges of the program are examined, along with considerations for program replication.

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"Nuisance": How Chronic Nuisance Ordinances Push Residents with Disabilities out of their Homes

Date Published: 2019

An article in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review on the impact of chronic nuisance ordinances on people with disabilities states that "Individuals with disabilities often require emergency services, such as suicide hotlines, to get assistance with medical issues that result from their disability. Crime-free programs and nuisance Property Ordinances force people with physical or mental disabilities to make an impossible choice between calling 911 and risking eviction or foregoing medical assistance in a crisis."

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Silencing Women's Voices: Nuisance Property Laws and Battered Women

Date Published: 2015

This study utilized qualitative data collected from interviews with police, prosecutors, and advocates for survivors of domestic violence in St. Louis from 2010 to 2012. The authors, Gretchen Arnold and Megan Slusser, used the data to examine "how the organizational structures and dynamics within which each group works give rise to different stocks of working knowledge." Further, the study "reveals mechanisms through which law enforcement policies reinforce gender inequality, and illustrates some ways in which gender relations and power come into play in what, on their surface, appear to be gender-neutral laws."

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Unpolicing the Urban Poor: Consequences of Third-Party Policing for Inner-City Women

Date Published: 2012

A study conducted of Milwaukee, WI's ordinance concluded that calls about domestic violence were the third most common reason for a nuisance citation. In 83% of cases where landlords received a citation, they evicted or threatened to evict the survivor if they called the police again. Moreover, a tenant living in a black neighborhood was three times more likely to receive a nuisance citation compared to a tenant in a white neighborhood who had also violated the ordinance. This study also found that 261 incidents of domestic violence appeared in 157 citations, which meant that every 4.6 days, a Milwaukee property owner received a citation listing at least one count of domestic violence. Of these domestic violence incidents, 81 percent involved a female victim, 88 percent involved a male perpetrator, showing females were adversely impacted by this law.

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Doubly Victimized: Housing Discrimination Against Victims of Domestic Violence

Date Published: 2003

This American University Journal of Gender Social Policy and Law articled written by Leonora M. Lapidus "discussed housing discrimination against victim of domestic violence and potential legal theories and advocacy efforts that can be used to combat it."