October 1, 2025
Glenda Moyer, Eastern Oregon and Education Coordinator
Many do not realize that the rates of domestic violence (also known as Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)) in rural communities are likely higher than those of urban areas. The Journal of Women’s Health published an article, (1) Rural Disparity in Domestic Violence Prevalence and Access to Resources, that describes the results from a survey completed by 1478 women over a one-year period. The article concludes that rural areas do, in fact, have higher rates of domestic violence. The article states, “Women in small rural and isolated areas reported the highest prevalence of IPV (22.5% and 17.9%, respectively) compared to 15.5% for urban women. Rural women reported significantly higher severity of physical abuse than their urban counterparts. The mean distance to the nearest IPV resource was three times greater for rural women than for urban women, and rural IPV programs served more counties and had fewer on-site shelter services. Over 25% of women in small rural and isolated areas lived >40 miles from the closest program, compared with <1% of women living in urban areas.”
Rural and isolated areas also have less access to domestic violence services. The Rural Health Information Hub article, (2) Violence and Abuse in Rural America, states, “Their effects in rural America are often exacerbated by limited access to support services for victims, family connections with people in positions of authority, distance and geographic isolation, transportation barriers, the stigma of abuse, lack of available shelters and affordable housing, poverty as a barrier to care, and other challenges.”
Why does the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO) care about this topic? It’s because fair housing law and landlord tenant law provide protections to victims of domestic violence in rental housing.
Federal law provides protections for federally funded rental housing under the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA), including tenants who rent from a private market landlord and receive a Housing Choice Voucher subsidy. State law provides protections for both federally funded housing and rental housing that is not subsidized.
Rural communities are less apt to know the law and seek services
Rural communities are less likely to be educated about services available and laws that regulate housing, including education regarding discrimination in housing. Services also are sparse, and victims may have to travel miles to receive services.
In small communities, it is hard to keep anonymity since most folks know everyone in their small towns. It can be embarrassing for a victim to seek services from the small communities they live in. There is also a very real concern that the abuser’s family and friends might be the people who are providing those services. In addition, if medical services are needed, many small communities are miles or hours away from the closest Emergency Room. In rural parts of Oregon, victims can travel over two hours to obtain a safe place to stay after a domestic disturbance. Many rural victims do not have access to transportation to travel to shelter. As stated in Oregon’s (3) Advisory Report: Breaking the Cycle: A Comprehensive Statewide Strategy Would Benefit Domestic Violence Victims, Survivors, and Advocates, “four rural counties Gillam, Sherman, Wasco, and Wheeler — share one domestic violence services nonprofit operating from a single location.”
Through my work managing the Fair Housing Council of Oregon’s landlord hotline and providing education services to twelve rural Oregon counties, it is apparent that landlords in isolated rural communities appear to be less educated regarding their obligation pertaining to laws that protect survivors of domestic violence and do not make it a priority to understand discrimination law.
Tenants in rural areas are less apt to file complaints regarding housing discrimination for fear of retaliation/eviction, lack of options for housing, and in many cases do not realize they even experience discrimination when it does occur.
Laws pertaining to domestic violence in Oregon
Per Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS), chapter 90, section 449 (ORS 90.449 – Landlord Discrimination Against Victim), housing providers cannot terminate or fail to renew a tenancy, serve a notice to terminate a tenancy, bring or threaten to bring an action for possession, increase rent, decrease services or refuse to enter into a rental agreement because the applicant/tenant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime or stalking.
Housing providers cannot impose different rules, conditions, or standards, or selectively enforce rules, conditions, or standards against an applicant or tenant due to being a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crimes, or stalking.
Victims have the right to have their locks changed (at their expense) and, victims have the right to request to move prior to their lease expiring without penalty. In addition, victims have the right to have the abuser removed from the lease agreement (bifurcation) while keeping the victim’s rental agreement intact.
There are times when the landlord can request proof of the incident from a qualified third party. This means the tenant can provide verification of the incident by submitting a valid order of protection, police report, medical records delivering proof of the abuse, a letter from a domestic violence service provider, or other court order stating the abuser cannot have contact with the victim. The victim can also provide evidence of the abuse by providing written documentation that they will be receiving a domestic violence housing grant to assist with rent for a short period. It’s important to state that the tenant can provide proof of the incident using appropriate documentation they feel comfortable with, and are not obligated to obtain a restraining order or other court order to be released from tenancy without retribution. Per ORS 90.453 – Release of Victim from Tenancy, there are time frames that must be adhered to in addition to the written notice provided to the housing provider.
Correlation between domestic violence and fair housing law
Most victims of domestic violence are women, who have protections under the protected class of sex. When a housing provider fails to adhere to landlord-tenant law pertaining to protections for domestic violence survivors, the landlord could easily violate the law pertaining to violations based on facially neutral housing policies.
Facially neutral housing policies are guidelines, practices, rules, or screening or admission criteria regarding a real property transaction that apply equally to all people. If a policy, when put into practice, has a negative effect on a certain protected class group and does not have that same effect on others in general, the practice could violate fair housing law.
Oregon is trying to address rural domestic violence with new programs
The website State Regs Today provides answers to commonly asked FAQ’s in an article titled (4) Rural Domestic Violence Programs in Oregon. This publication addresses questions people may have regarding how Oregon addresses domestic violence in rural areas, such as funding for domestic violence services, measures used to provide services, collaboration between agencies and jurisdictions, and other issues, such as underserved populations and language barriers, education in schools, and laws that are meant to prevent rural domestic violence.
The Oregon Department of Justice provides information for crime victims and survivor services https://www.doj.state.or.us/crime-victims/resources/domestic-violence/
Contact the Fair Housing Council of Oregon to get more information about fair housing law regarding domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crimes and stalking.
References
- Rural Disparity in Domestic Violence Prevalence and Access to Resources https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3216064/
- Rural Health Information Hub; Violene and Abuse in Rural America https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/violence-and-abuse
- Advisory Report: Breaking the Cycle: A Comprehensive Statewide Strategy Would Benefit Domestic Violence Victims, Survivors, and Advocates https://sos.oregon.gov/audits/Documents/2023-31.pdf
- Rural Domestic Violence Programs in Oregon, https://www.stateregstoday.com/politics/domestic-violence/rural-domestic-violence-programs-in-oregon
About the Author
Glenda Moyer is the Eastern Oregon Education and Outreach Coordinator and responds to the Housing Providers Hotline for the Fair Housing Council of Oregon. Glenda grew up in La Grande and raised her three children in La Grande. She attended Eastern Oregon University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology/Anthropology with an emphasis in social welfare and criminal justice. Glenda has spent over 20 years working with people who have barriers that limit their access to obtaining safe and affordable housing.