Housing Sexual Harassment: A Department of Justice Case Study 

Abstract

Sexual harassment in housing-when tenants or prospective tenants are sexually harassed by their landlords, housing providers, or other people associated with their housing-is a clear national problem. In 2019 the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced an initiative to bring attention to this issue, as well as a shared commitment to increased enforcement against harassers.

This enforcement push provides an opportunity for study. In particular, there are now a significant number of complaints and other litigation documents posted to the DOJ's website that provide a convenient and robust sample for analysis. The cases-seventy-six in total-span several decades and have been filed in courts across the United States. This article is based on a detailed examination of these cases, focusing on factors such as the identity of the perpetrators of the harassment, the specific types of harassing conduct alleged, and victim reporting behavior and outcomes, and the types of housing in which the harassment occurred.

Keywords: sexual harassment in housing, discrimination