Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Housing for Survivors Act of 2026”.
Fair Housing for Survivors Act of 2026
A BILL
To provide protection for survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and sex trafficking under the Fair Housing Act.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
Cities, towns, and rural communities in the United States continue to face enormous challenges regarding domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, dating violence, stalking, and other forms of intimate partner and gender-based violence.
One in three women and one in four men in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in his or her lifetime.
Intimate partner violence alone affects more than 10,000,000 people in the United States every year.
Among women experiencing sex trafficking, many of their traffickers are also their intimate partners.
Each day, an average of three women are killed by a current or former partner.
Researchers estimate that domestic violence costs employers up to $8,300,000,000 each year, and that sexual violence results in more than $122,000 in lifetime costs per survivor and nearly $3,100,000,000,000 in costs to the United States economy across all 25,000,000 survivors in the United States.
Research indicates the following:
90 percent of homeless women report having experienced severe physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives, including sexual exploitation and trafficking.
84 percent of survivors in domestic violence shelters reported that they needed help finding affordable housing. More than half of victims who identified a need for housing services did not receive them.
Survivors who become homeless as a result of sexual assault are vulnerable to further violence, including sexual victimization, exploitation, and sex trafficking. Being homeless can increase an individual’s risk of experiencing violence, including sexual violence.
Women and men who experienced food or housing insecurity in a 12-month period were more likely to experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the same period.
Women of color, domestic violence survivors, and women with children are among those at the highest risk of eviction.
Vulnerable women are also at risk of sex trafficking and exploitation by landlords who pressure them for sex in exchange for rent or a delay in rent payments.
Women who experience intimate partner violence are four times more likely to experience homelessness than those who do not.
A majority of survivors who experience a sexual assault in their home do not relocate to a safe environment because they do not have sufficient funds, have a past eviction or criminal record related to their experience as a survivor, are not aware of temporary shelter and housing resources available to survivors, or suffer from trauma that can make relocation feel impossible.
Survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault often face eviction based on a single incident of violence.
Domestic and sexual violence survivors often find themselves trapped in homes where they are further victimized by caregivers, parents, siblings, landlords, intimate partners, neighbors, or others in or near their home.
Domestic and sexual violence survivors continue to face discrimination in securing and maintaining housing based on their status as survivors and as a result of abuse committed against them.
Survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault are commonly denied housing opportunities if a previous residence of the survivor was a domestic violence shelter, if the survivor has secured a protective order, or if there is other evidence that the survivor has experienced a previous domestic violence incident.
Securing safe and affordable housing for survivors is a fundamental component of ending domestic and sexual violence.
Sec. 3 Survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault as protected class under the fair housing act
in section 802 (42 U.S.C. 3602), by adding at the end the following:
“(p) “Domestic violence”—
“(1) has the meaning given the term in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)); and
“(2) includes—
“(A) dating violence and stalking, as such terms are defined in such section 40002(a); and
“(B) threatened domestic violence.
“(q) “Sexual assault”—
“(1) has the meaning given the term in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)); and
“(2) includes threatened sexual assault.
“(r) “Severe forms of trafficking in persons” has the meaning given the term in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
“(s) “Coercion” has the meaning given the term in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
“(t) “Survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons” includes any person who experienced or is perceived to have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons.”
in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)—
in subsection (a), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”;
in subsection (b), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”;
in subsection (c), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”;
in subsection (d), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”; and
in subsection (e), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”;
in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)—
in subsection (a), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”; and
in subsection (c), by striking “or familial status” and inserting “familial status, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”;
in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or whether a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”;
in section 807 (42 U.S.C. 3607), by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Nothing in this title shall prohibit a Federal, State, unit of local government, or other assistance or preference program from being designed to assist or benefit survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons in seeking, securing, or maintaining dwellings, shelters, or any other form of housing for such survivors, including associated notices, statements, or advertisements of such dwelling.”
in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), by inserting “status as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons,” after “handicap,”.
Prevention of intimidation in fair housing cases— Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended—
in section 901 (42 U.S.C. 3631)—
in the matter preceding subsection (a), by inserting “or coercion” after “threat of force”;
in subsection (a), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or because the person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”;
in subsection (b)(1), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or because a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”; and
in subsection (c), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or because a person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons”; and
by inserting after section 901 the following:
“902. Definitions
“In this title, the terms “domestic violence”, “sexual assault”, “severe forms of trafficking in persons”, “coercion”, and “survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons” shall have the meaning given such terms in section 802.”
Preservation of survivors’ ability To recover for other forms of discrimination— Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, shall be interpreted to limit the ability of survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons to recover for any other claims of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), including with respect to failure to conform to gender stereotypes or policies that disproportionately affect women.