In conjunction with events surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said it worked with the Department of Justice to announce a nationwide rollout of initiatives to increase awareness and reporting of sexual harassment in housing.

“All discrimination stains the very fabric of our nation, but HUD is especially focused on protecting the right of everyone to feel safe and secure in their homes, free from unwanted sexual harassment,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a press release.

The announcement includes an interagency task force between HUD and the Justice Department to combat sexual harassment in housing, an outreach toolkit, and a public awareness campaign. This three-pronged approach will strengthen HUD’s efforts to combat sexual harassment in housing, the release said.

“No person should have to tolerate unwanted sexual advances in order to keep a roof over his or her head,” Carson said. “Part of our mission at HUD is to provide safe housing and we will remain diligent in this mission to protect those we serve.”

In October 2017, the Justice Department announced an initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing and launched pilot programs in the District of Columbia and the Western District of Virginia. The initiative sought to increase the Justice Department’s efforts to protect women from harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, security guards, and other employees and representatives of rental property owners.

During the pilots, the Justice Department developed and tested ways to better connect both with victims of sexual harassment in housing and with those organizations that victims may turn to first for help – including law enforcement, legal services providers, public housing authorities, sexual assault services providers, and shelters. The two pilot programs generated an upswing in harassment reporting from both D.C. and the Western District of Virginia.

“(Sexual harassment) is all too common today, as too many landlords, managers, and their employees attempt to prey on vulnerable women,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in the press release. “We will not hesitate to pursue these predators and enforce the law. We will continue to aggressively pursue harassers, because everyone has a right to be safe in their home.”

The D.C. pilot generated six leads since the October 2017 launch while the Virginia one generated three leads. Because of these promising results, three major components to the initiative are being rolled out, the agencies announced.

First, the new HUD-DOJ Task Force to Combat Sexual Harassment in Housing will drive a shared strategy between the agencies for combatting sexual harassment in housing across the country. It will focus on five key areas: continued data sharing and analysis, joint development of training, evaluation of public housing complaint mechanisms, coordination of public outreach and press strategy, and review of federal policies.

Second, the outreach toolkit is designed to leverage the HUD and Justice Department’s nationwide network of U.S. Attorney’s Offices. The toolkit provides templates, guidance, and checklists based on pilot program feedback. It ultimately will amplify available enforcement resources and help victims of sexual harassment connect with the Justice Department.

Third, the public awareness campaign has three major components: a partnership package with relevant stakeholders, launch of a social media campaign, and public service announcements run by the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys. The campaign is specifically designed to raise awareness, and make it easier for victims all over the country to find resources and report harassment.