Domestic violence, flawed interpretations of 42 U.S.C. (section) 1437(d)(l)(6), sexual harassment in public housing, and municipal violations of the Eighth Amendment: making women homeless and keeping them homeless.

PREFACE

Poverty is the worst form of violence. (1)

Homeless women accompanied by at least one child comprise the fastest growing segment of America's homeless population. This article examines the great poverty that has befallen so many women in America, focusing specifically upon the links between domestic violence, the Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker (2) decision interpreting 42 U.S.C. [section] 1437(d)(l)(6), sexual harassment in publicly subsidized housing, municipal violations of the Eighth Amendment, and the phenomenon of increasing female homelessness. Section I discusses present statistics for homelessness in the United States. Section II examines domestic violence as the principal cause of female homelessness. Section III analyzes the decision in Rucker and its impact upon female homelessness for women in public housing. Section IV addresses sexual harassment in public housing and the fallacy embedded in 42 U.S.C. [section] 3604(b). Section V addresses the impact of municipal violations of the Eighth Amendment that criminalize women and keep them homeless. Section VI reports the adverse psychological effects of homelessness upon women and their children. Section VII presents proposals to ameliorate the great poverty of homeless women.

SECTION I.

Homeless in America: The Statistics

In 2000, an estimated two million Americans were homeless on any given night. (3) In the last decade, between 2.5 and 3.5 million people experienced homelessness every year. (4) Of these, thirty percent have been homeless for more than two years. (5) These are modest estimates of the size of the homeless population. They do not include the newly-homeless class left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, nor do they include the thousands of Americans who are losing their homes as a result of the bursting housing bubble. They also fail to include homeless individuals who are doubled up in the homes of friends and family. (6) A more accurate estimate of America's homeless population would include approximately five million people. Taken in the abstract, "five million people" is hard for the human mind to comprehend. The following are two attempts to give flesh to the words five million people:

Illustration 1: Metropolitan Atlanta is a gigantic, sprawling hub of international commerce, skyscrapers, world-class hotels, and urban living. Metropolitan Atlanta has one of the busiest airports in the world and is home to Coca-Cola and the Atlanta Braves. Greater Atlanta includes the cities of Marietta, Jonesboro, Cherokee, and Smyma, which house a population of approximately five million. The homeless population would fill every dwelling in Greater Atlanta, Georgia.