Preventing Sexual Harassment in Public Housing Act of 2020

Preventing Sexual Harassment in Public Housing Act of 2020

This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take actions related to reporting and investigating housing-related discrimination and harassment, particularly sexual harassment.

Specifically, HUD must include in its annual report to Congress tabulations of complaints of discriminatory housing practices filed with HUD or a fair housing assistance program in the preceding year. These tabulations must identify whether a complaint alleged discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or familial status. HUD must consider a complaint of sexual harassment under the category of discrimination based on sex and must include a separate tabulation of the total number of sexual harassment complaints filed.

Additionally, DOJ must establish an initiative to investigate and prosecute allegations of housing-related sexual harassment.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5788 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5788

    To amend the Fair Housing Act to require a complaint of sexual 
  harassment be annually reported to Congress, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2020

Mr. Katko (for himself, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, 
Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Ms. Moore, and Ms. Speier) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Fair Housing Act to require a complaint of sexual 
  harassment be annually reported to Congress, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Sexual Harassment in 
Public Housing Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO ANNUALLY REPORT COMPLAINTS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT.

    (a) Annual Report.--Section 808(e)(2) of the Fair Housing Act (42 
U.S.C. 3608(e)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (B)(iii) by striking the semicolon and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(C) containing tabulations of the number of 
                instances in the preceding year in which complaints of 
                discriminatory housing practices were filed with the 
                Department of Housing and Urban Development or a fair 
                housing assistance program, including identification of 
                whether each complaint was filed with respect to 
                discrimination based on race, color, religion, national 
                origin, sex, handicap, or familial status.''.
    (b) Sexual Harassment.--Section 808 of the Fair Housing Act (42 
U.S.C. 3608) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(g) In carrying out the reporting obligations under this section, 
the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) consider a complaint filed with respect to 
        discrimination based on sex to include any complaint filed with 
        respect to sexual harassment; and
            ``(2) in reporting the instances of a complaint filed with 
        respect to discrimination based on sex under subsection 
        (e)(2)(C), include a disaggregated tabulation of the total 
        number of such complaints filed with respect to sexual 
        harassment.''.
    (c) Initiative To Combat Sexual Harassment in Housing.--Title 9 of 
the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section:

``SEC. 902. INITIATIVE TO COMBAT SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN HOUSING.

    ``The Attorney General shall establish an initiative to investigate 
and prosecute an allegation of a violation under this Act with respect 
to sexual harassment.''.
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