Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Program Focused on Eliminating Environmental Hazards and Combatting Sexual Misconduct in HUD-Assisted Housing

            WASHINGTON – Members of the Anacostia Coordinating Council, today, heard presentations and had discussions with U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis at a panel focused on promoting the health, safety, and civil liberty of tenants living in HUD-assisted housing. The program focused on eliminating environmental hazards and combatting sexual misconduct in HUD-assisted housing. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and Office of Environmental Justice also presented on related topics, including the development of a Department-wide environmental justice strategic plan.

            The panel, which took place at the monthly meeting of the Anacostia Coordinating Council at Martha’s Table in the Seventh Metropolitan Police Department District, was part of the HUD Inspector General’s initiatives promoting safe housing strategies related to environmental justice, and how to recognize and report sexual misconduct in housing.

            Attendees included members and leadership of communities east of the Anacostia River who might be impacted by environmental injustices, such as lead paint in their homes, or become victims of sexual harassment in housing by their landlords, property managers, maintenance staff, or other housing personnel in positions of authority. Members of the public were encouraged to share their experiences, concerns, and expertise to build future partnerships and provide aid and assistance to beneficiaries when reporting matters related health, safety, or security in housing.

            “No one should be subjected to unsafe conditions or harassment in order to have a roof over their head,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “The residents of D.C. have a right to feel safe in their homes, to have their rights respected by their landlords, and to not have to worry that they and their families will be harmed by environmental hazards. The affirmative civil rights and environmental justice team in this Office is working, daily, to prevent, correct, and prosecute those cases that violate HUD’s housing assistance program guidelines. Today’s safe housing panel, we hope, will arm residents with the information they need to ensure their rights are protected. You have a right to feel safe in your home.”

            “I am grateful for the opportunity afforded us by the Anacostia Coordinating Council to directly engage community members about HUD OIG’s initiatives in pursuit of environmental justice violations and combatting sexual misconduct in housing,” said Inspector General Oliver Davis. “We remain committed to working closely with our partners at the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to raise awareness about violations of federal law in these areas and pursue bad actors who victimize vulnerable people receiving HUD assistance.”

            If you have or someone you know has information about environmental hazards and unsafe unit conditions in HUD-assisted housing or you have or someone you know has been a victim of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual exploitation—even if the events occurred years ago—report it to the HUD Office of Inspector General Hotline at 1-800-347-3735 or visit the website at www.hudoig.gov/hotline.  You may also file a complaint with HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at https://www.hud.gov/fairhousing/fileacomplaint.  

            You may also contact the U.S. Department of Justice at 1-844-380-6178 or visit www.civilrights.justice.gov.  Individuals who believe they may have been victims of environmental injustices or housing discrimination may also contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at (202) 252-2500, USADC.CivilRights@usdoj.gov or https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/affirmative-civil-rights-and-environmental-justice.

            For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc and https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/programs/community-prosecution/community-engagements.