Survivors of domestic violence and their children face unique barriers to housing. Many survivors have experienced economic abuse by their abusive partner. They are often limited in the locations and types of housing they can access because of their unique safety and confidentiality needs, and many housing/ homelessness assistance programs have barriers that inadvertently exclude victims of violence. Survivors may have no access to family finances. They may have been prohibited from working, and have had their credit scores destroyed by the abuser. They may have been forced into criminal activity by their abuser, or arrested as the perpetrator of violence when acting in self-defense. Survivors may experience discrimination in accessing or maintaining housing based on the violent and criminal actions of their abusers. They may experience unfair eviction because of violence against them, or because they have filed for a civil protection order. They may have physical and cognitive disabilities as a result of the violence.
In order to effectively assess and address these and other barriers, staff working with survivors on housing placement need specialized training and experience with domestic violence advocacy, knowledge of local domestic violence housing and related resources, relationships with local landlords who will rent to survivors, and a network of relationships in the local domestic violence advocacy and broader homeless, social service, behavioral health, and legal systems.