Defending Women and Families Against Policy Violence

Public Health Liberation posits that the source of health inequity reproduction can be found in the public health economy. The latest issue of Southwest Voice, an online publication of PHL Founder Christopher Williams, reflects the physical and mental harm arising from policy violence due to slumlording and property neglect in Washington, DC. The article discusses many PHL members’ experiences living in properties of the DC Housing Authority.

DC Housing Authority Behind Policy Violence and Public Health Crises in Southwest Public Housing

Excerpt from Southwest Voice

The DC Housing Authority held its final listening session on ‎Thursday, ‎May ‎18 at the King-Greenleaf Recreation Center in Southwest. DC Council required the Stabilization and Reform Board to conduct listening sessions with public housing residents throughout the city as part of a December law reforming the agency's board. The event featured remarks from a panel of Southwest resident council presidents, followed by public testimonies from more than a dozen residents. With few exceptions, all of those who testified were Black women. Their experiences living in poor conditions are best understood as gender and racial policy violence against women and families. Through their tears and justified anger at times, the public health consequences of DCHA's longstanding dysfunction as the city's largest landlord and most notorious slumlord came into full view.