Combatting Sexual Harassment In Housing

While we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act this year, sexual harassment in housing continues to impact countless individuals.  Sexual harassment can result in significant distress, as well as eviction and homelessness. It often involves unrelenting, unwanted sexual advances or requests for sexual acts in exchange for a place to live, repairs to the home, reduced rents or delayed evictions.  Persons experiencing such conduct often are especially vulnerable, financially unstable with few housing options, including single mothers who fear homelessness or use housing vouchers. 

During this webinar, staff from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and Legal Aid of North Carolina will explore the legal framework available under the federal Fair Housing Act to address sexual harassment in housing, and discuss opportunities for collaboration among those providing direct legal services and the federal government.  We will discuss how to screen for sexual harassment in housing, how to make appropriate referrals of such incidents to the federal government, and what may happen once referrals are made.  We will also explore civil rights litigation on behalf of those who have been sexually harassed by property managers, landlords, maintenance workers, housing authority officials, or others with power over access to housing, with a focus on the role that civil legal services attorneys have played – or can play – in these efforts.

Join this webinar to learn about: types of legal services available to address sexual harassment in housing; the proper process of identifying and referring the crime; civil rights litigation on behalf of victims; and opportunities for collaboration among the Federal Government and those providing direct legal services for the victims.

Speakers:

Kelly Clarke, Supervising Attorney with the Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc.

R. Tamar Hagler, Deputy Chief, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice

Register Here   

For the Webinar's PowerPoint slides, look here

Tools and Resources for Webinar:

Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice

The Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative’s webpage is located here.

The Spanish version of the initiative’s webpage is located here.

The resources page of the initiative’s webpage contains:

•         Flyers in English, Spanish, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese;
•         Palm cards in English and Spanish;
•         Information sheets in English and Spanish; and
•         A partnership toolkit.

Legal Aid of North Carolina