Housing and Gender-based Violence: Responses from the United States and Canada

Housing and Gender-based Violence: Responses from the United States and Canada

Mia Bailey, International and Philanthropic Affairs Division

Both the U.S. and Canada have developed comprehensive plans to end gender-based violence and secure more housing resources for those fleeing violence.

As we commemorate National Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month in the United States, it is an opportune time to examine the connections between gender-based violence and housing. As global housing costs rise and supply shortages persist, many find themselves in vulnerable circumstances wrestling with homelessness and housing instability. According to Healthy People 2030, an initiative of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, housing instability refers to challenges people face in securing or maintaining stable housing, such as difficulty paying rent, overcrowded housing conditions, frequent moves, or being housing cost burdened. For those experiencing gender-based violence, these challenges are even more daunting and are a leading cause for homelessness among women and their families.

Gender-based violence is not unique to the United States. According to UN Women, one in eight women and girls globally face sexual and or physical violence. The National Network to End Domestic Violence reports that more than 90 percent of homeless women experience physical and sexual abuse over the course of their lives; of those, 63 percent report being victims of domestic or sexual violence. A November 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Justice reveals that people with disabilities are four times more likely than those without disabilities to experience violence. These statistics reinforce the need to address the connections between housing and gender-based violence globally and to find equitable and just solutions for victims and survivors. 

In North America, the United States and Canada are working to identify solutions. In the United States, federal laws such as the Fair Housing Act and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) include provisions that protect the housing rights of victims and survivors of gender-based violence. VAWA included a housing title for the first time in 2005, which was reauthorized in both 2013 and 2022. The 2022 reauthorization of VAWA also called for HUD to establish a Gender-Based Violence Prevention Office and a VAWA director. Additional key provisions of the legislation include protection from discrimination for survivors of VAWA violence and abuse; notification of occupancy rights; emergency transfers; and confidentiality requirements for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking who are applying for or living in federally assisted housing. Many U.S. states have also passed laws to strengthen these federal protections, as noted in the National Housing Law Project's Housing Rights of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survivors: A State and Local Law Compendium. In Canada, although no specific national legislation addresses gender-based violence, the nation's Criminal Code includes provisions that cover these issues. Provinces (including Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and Yukon) have strengthened protections through local laws that help govern the issue, offering guidance on managing housing matters for those impacted by gender-based violence.

Both the United States and Canada have developed comprehensive plans to end gender-based violence and secure more housing resources for those fleeing violence. In May 2023, the United States released its first-ever National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action. Crafted by the White House Gender Policy Council, the National Plan outlines seven pillars to address and prevent gender-based violence in the United States. The pillars include: Prevention; Support, Healing, Safety, and Well-Being; Economic Security and Housing Stability; Online Safety; Legal and Justice Systems; Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Response; and Research and Data. HUD and the U.S. Department of Labor co-chaired the development of the Economic Security and Housing Stability Pillar, which reinforces the need to provide flexible housing options for survivors facing unique barriers to housing. Also in May 2023, HUD's International and Philanthropic Affairs Division, along with the director on gender-based violence prevention and equity, the Women's Funding Network, and the Blue Shield of California Foundation, convened more than 60 philanthropic leaders, researchers, and practitioners for a first-ever philanthropic roundtable on gender-based violence and housing.

Canada released its National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, developed by the Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women and their respective government partners and agencies. The Canadian National Plan offers five pillars as a strategic framework for combatting and addressing gender-based violence. The five pillars are: support for victims, survivors, and their families; prevention; responsive justice system; implementing Indigenous-led approaches; social infrastructure and enabling environment.

Addressing the connections between gender-based violence and housing is a layered and complex — but attainable — goal. As efforts in the United States and Canada demonstrate, the path toward creating better outcomes for victims and survivors of gender-based violence is hopeful.