Legal and Policy Responses to Sexual Harassment in Housing

The sexual harassment of low-income women by their housing providers is a clear national problem that has only recently become the focus of coordinated nationwide enforcement efforts by federal agencies, including the Department of Justice. While these developments are welcome, the problem requires proactive responses as well. This Essay examines data from a study of all of DOJ’s sexual harassment in housing cases and uses this information to identify the most problematic types of housing providers and the most common forms of harassment. Specifically, harassment appears to occur most frequently in private rental housing and is perpetuated by managers (usually the owners of the property) who operate with little or no oversight.

Additionally, the vast majority of sexual harassment in housing involves a perpetrator who explicitly offers to trade rent for sexual activity. With this in mind, the Essay then suggests targeted legal and policy responses to address the problem.