Domestic Violence and Homelessness
When women flee domestic abuse, they are often forced to leave their
homes, with nowhere else to turn. Landlords also sometimes turn
victims of domestic violence out of their homes because of the vio-
lence against them. For years, advocates have known that domestic
violence is a primary cause of homelessness for women and families.
Studies from across the country confirm the connection between
domestic violence and homelessness and suggest ways to end the
cycle in which violence against women leads to life on the streets.
Trapped Between Violence and control over their partners and isolate their tims know that they may face eviction if a
Homelessness partners from support networks. As a landlord finds out about the abuse, they
result, a woman who has experienced are less likely to seek this assistance and
Housing instability and a lack of safe and domestic violence will often have little or more likely to submit to the abuse.
affordable housing options heightens the no access to money and very few friends
risks for women experiencing domestic or family members to rely on if she flees a Domestic Violence and Poverty
violence: violent relationship.
Poor women, who are more vulnerable to
• A lack of alternative housing often leads homelessness, are also at greater risk of
• Many landlords have adopted policies,
women to stay in or return to violent rela- domestic violence. Poverty limits women’s
such as “zero tolerance for crime” policies,
tionships. In Minnesota in 2003, for instance, choices and makes it harder for them to
that penalize victims of domestic violence.
46 percent of homeless women reported escape violent relationships. For instance:
These policies allow landlords to evict ten-
that they had previously stayed in abusive ants when violence occurs in their homes,
relationships because they had nowhere to • While women at all income levels experi-
regardless of whether the tenant is the vic-
go.1 In 2003, in Fargo, North Dakota, 44 per- ence domestic violence, poor women expe-
tim or the perpetrator of the violence. A
cent of homeless women reported that rience domestic violence at higher rates
Michigan study of women currently or for-
they stayed in an abusive relationship at than women with higher household
merly receiving welfare found that women
some point in the past two years because incomes. Women with household incomes
who had experienced recent or ongoing
they did not have other housing options.
2
of less than $7,500 are 7 times as likely as
domestic violence were far more likely to
women with household incomes over
face eviction than other women.3
• Abusers typically use violence as part of $75,000 to experience domestic violence.5
larger strategies to exercise power and • Some landlords are unwilling to rent to a
• Women living in rental housing experience
woman who has experienced domestic vio-
intimate partner violence at three times the
lence. For example, a 2005 investigation by
rate of women who own their homes.6
• A 2003 survey of homeless a fair housing group in New York City found
that 28 percent of housing providers either
mothers around the country flatly refused to rent to a domestic violence
• Women living in poor neighborhoods are
more likely to be the victims of domestic
victim or failed to follow up as promised
found that one quarter had violence than women in more affluent
when contacted by an investigator posing
neighborhoods. Indeed, women in finan-
been physically abused in as a housing coordinator for a domestic vio-
cially distressed couples who live in a poor
lence survivor assistance program.4
the past year . neighborhoods are twice as likely to be vic-
tims of domestic violence than women in
• Landlords often only learn about domes-
equally financially distressed relationships
MORE FACTS INSIDE tic violence because victims have sought
living in more affluent neighborhoods. 7
the help of police or the courts. When vic-
MAP: Facts on Ho
• In Fargo, North Dakota, in 2003, 1 in 5 home-
less women reported that she had left her
home to flee abuse. In Fargo, 45 percent of
homeless women had experienced violence
from an intimate partner in the past year. 8
In 2005, 50 percent of U.S. cities surveyed reported that
domestic violence is a primary cause of homelessness. In 2005 in Iowa, nearly a qu
less households in the state
were homeless because of
Homeless service providers
ily break-up/divorce was th
factor leading to homeles
domestic violence specifica
top five factors leading to ho
• In San Diego, almost 50 percent of homeless
women are domestic violence victims. In fact,
this number may actually be much higher, due
to women’s reluctance to report domestic vio-
lence because of shame or fear of reprisal.10
t
Homelessness Facts
• In 2005, 50 percent of U.S. cities surveyed under five have witnessed domestic violence in
reported that domestic violence is a primary their families, according to a 1999 report.13
cause of homelessness. These cities included
Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Charleston, Chicago, • A 1997 survey of homeless parents in ten
Los Angeles, Nashville, Philadelphia, St. Paul, cities around the country found that 22 percent
Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Seattle, and Trenton.11 had left their last residence because of domes-
tic violence. Among parents who had lived with
• A 2003 survey of homeless mothers around a spouse or partner, 57 percent of homeless
the country found that one quarter had been parents had left their last residence because
physically abused in the past year and almost of domestic violence.14
all had experienced or witnessed domestic vio-
lence over their lifetimes.12 • According to a 1990 study, half of all home-
less women and children are fleeing abuse.15
• Forty-seven percent of homeless school-aged
children and 29 percent of homeless children
omelessness in the United States
A study of family homelessness in Massachusetts
In Minnesota, 1 in every 3 homeless women found that 92 percent of homeless women had
t
was driven from her home by domestic vio- experienced severe physical and/or sexual
lence in 2003.16 assault at some time in their lives. One third of
u
homeless women were current or recent vic-
tims of domestic violence. 20
• A Michigan survey of homeless adults in 1995
t
t
found that physical abuse was most frequently
cited as the main cause of homelessness.17
t
t
t
uarter of all home- In New York City, almost half of all homeless
e reported that they In 2003 in Chicago, 56 percent of women in parents had been abused and one quarter of
f domestic violence. homeless shelters reported they had been all homeless parents were homeless as a
s reported that fam- victims of domestic violence and 22 percent direct result of domestic violence in 2002.21
he most significant stated that domestic violence was the imme-
t
ssness in Iowa and diate cause of their homelessness.18
ally was among the
In Virginia, shelters reported in 1995 that 35
omelessness.9
percent of those receiving shelter were
t
homeless because of family violence.22
In Missouri, 27 percent of individuals in home-
less shelters were survivors of domestic vio-
t
lence in 2001, making domestic violence a
primary cause of homelessness in the state.19 A 2000 survey of parents living in homeless shel-
ters with their children in Kentucky, Tennessee,
and the Carolinas found that two-thirds of
homeless parents had experienced domestic
violence.23
A 2003 Florida study found that 46 percent of
domestic violence survivors reported that
they had experienced homelessness as a
result of the violence. Eighty-three percent of
survivors reported they had difficulty finding
suitable and affordable housing.24
t
Protecting Battered Women’s Homes Some states, most notably Washington, in certain circumstances. Some states, for
Rhode Island, and North Carolina, have instance, only prohibit evicting those victims
One way to reduce the risk of homelessness adopted broader laws specifically prohibiting of domestic violence who have obtained
for domestic violence victims is to protect housing discrimination against domestic vio- restraining orders against their abusers.
them from housing discrimination on the lence victims.27 Most states, however, either While states are moving in the right direc-
basis of domestic violence. For this reason, have no laws at all explicitly protecting tion, these kinds of technicalities limit many
the American Bar Association has urged domestic violence victims’ housing rights or state laws’ effectiveness in reducing domes-
lawmakers to prohibit this form of discrimi- have laws that offer only narrow protection tic violence and subsequent homelessness.
nation. As the report accompanying the
ABA’s recommendation explained, “Until we
stop asking women to choose between
being beaten and being able to feed and What to Do
shelter their children, we cannot expect to
rid our society of domestic violence.”25
In 2005, a federal law was adopted prohibit-
If you are being abused and need immediate assistance, call the
National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-SAFE.
ing many kinds of discrimination against
victims of domestic violence who live in
If you feel you have been discriminated against in housing because
public housing or Section 8 housing.26 This you are have experienced domestic violence, call the ACLU Women’s
law states, for instance, that being a victim Rights Project at (212) 549-2644 or email
[email protected].
of domestic violence is not alone a reason
for eviction from public housing or loss of a To learn more about laws and policies that can protect domestic vio-
housing voucher. This law, however, does lence victims’ housing rights, call the ACLU Women’s Rights Project
not address discrimination in other kinds at (212) 549-2644 or email
[email protected].
of housing against individuals who have
experienced domestic violence.
Endnotes
1 14
Wilder Research Center, Homeless in Minnesota 2003 22 (February 2004); see also Kimberle Homes for the Homeless & Institute for Children and Poverty, Ten Cities 1997-1998: A
Crenshaw, Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence Against Women Snapshot of Family Homelessness Across America 3 (1998).
of Color, 43 Stan. L. Rev. 1241, 1246 n.13 (stating that one shelter serving women of color 15
reported that nearly 85 percent of clients returned to abusive relationships because of their Joan Zorza, Woman Battering: A Major Cause of Homelessness, 25 Clearinghouse Review
difficulties finding housing and employment). 420 (1991) (citing study).
16
2
Wilder Research Center, Homeless Adults and Their Children in Fargo, North Dakota, and Wilder Research Center, supra note 1, at 22.
Moorhead, Minnesota: Regional Survey of Persons Without Permanent Shelter 38 (November 17
Richard Douglass, The State of Homelessness in Michigan: A Research Study (1995), as cited in
2004). National Coalition for the Homeless, Domestic and Homelessness: NCG Fact Sheet #8 (1999).
3
Richard M. Tolman, Sandra K. Danziger & Daniel Rosen, Michigan Program on Poverty and 18
Center for Impact Research, Pathways to and from Homelessness: Women and Children in
Social Welfare Policy, Domestic Violence and Economic Well-Being of Current and Former Chicago Shelters 3 (January 2004)
Welfare Recipients (2001).
19
4
Missouri Association for Social Welfare, Homelessness in Missouri: The Rising Tide (May 2002).
Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York, “Center Study Finds Significant Incidence of
20
Discrimination Against Survivors of Domestic Violence” (August 2005). See National Center on Family Homelessness, Factsheet, Violence in the Lives of Homeless
5
Women (summarizing findings of six-year National Center on Family Homelessness study).
Callie Marie Rennison & Sarah Welchans, Department of Justice, NCJ 178247, Intimate Available at www.familyhomelessness.org.
Partner Violence 4 (2000).
21
6
Institute for Children and Poverty, The Hidden Migration: Why New York City Shelters Are
Id. at 1. Overflowing with Families (April 2002).
7
Michael L. Benson & Greer Litton Fox, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Nat’l Inst. of Justice, When 22
Virginia Coalition for the Homeless, 1995 Shelter Provider Survey (1995), as cited in
Violence Hits Home: How Economics and Neighborhood Play a Role 1-4 (2004). National Coalition for the Homeless, Domestic and Homelessness: NCG Fact Sheet #8 (1999).
8
Wilder Research Center, supra note 2, at 38. 23
Homes for the Homeless, The Other America: Homeless Families in the Shadow of the New
9
Iowa Council on Homelessness, 2005 Iowa Statewide Homeless Survey 20, 29 (January 2006). Economy, Family Homelessness in Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas 3 (December 2000).
24
10
San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness, Domestic Violence and Homelessness Marilyn K. Kershner, When There’s Nowhere to Go: Domestic Violence and the Need for
(visited Aug. 19, 2004) < http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/rtfh/victims.html>. Better Housing Options for Survivors and Their Children 24-25 (January 2003).
25
11
United States Conference of Mayors, Hunger and Homelessness Survey 64 (December 2005). American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division and Commission on Domestic Violence,
Report to the House of Delegates, February 2003.
12
National Center on Family Homelessness & Health Care for the Homeless Clinicians’ 26
Network, Social Supports for Homeless Mothers 14, 26 (October 2003). Violence Against Women Act and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, Pub.
L. No. 109-162, §§ 606, 607 (2006).
13
Homes for the Homeless & Institute for Children and Poverty, Homeless in America: A 27
Children’s Story, Part One 23 (1999). Wash. Rev. Code § 59.18.600 et seq. (2004); R.I. Gen. Laws § § 34-37-1,-2,-2.4,-3,-4 (2002);
N.C. Gen Stat. §§ 42-40, -42.1, -42.2, -45.1 (2005).
