The Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) is proud to endorse the FEMA for Safe Recovery Act (H.R. 10281). Introduced by Representatives Lucy McBath and Laurel Lee on September 3, 2026. This bipartisan legislation would strengthen how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) addresses and prevents gender-based violence, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation during disaster response and recovery.
Disasters can leave people vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation. Housing insecurity, overcrowded shelters, sudden income loss, inaccessible support, and disrupted law enforcement leave people vulnerable to abuse. Women, girls, and marginalized communities are specifically at risk.
Following the 2023 Lahaina wildfire, a local organization, Tagnawa, found that one in six women reported being forced into “survival sex,” performing sexual acts for food, housing, and other necessities. Tagnawa’s report, Equality in Flames, documented increased requests for services like temporary restraining orders and calls to women’s crisis hotlines. At a local domestic violence organization, monthly calls doubled to 550 in the first two months after the fires.
Lahaina is not the only example. After Hurricane Katrina, women in Mississippi who lived with their partners were twice as likely to report physical abuse. For displaced people living in trailer parks, intimate partner violence was nearly three times higher.
After the 2021 winter storm in Texas, 25% of applications to the national cash assistance program for survivors said abuse began or worsened during the disaster. A 2024 report found that public health emergencies, including natural disasters, are associated with more frequent and severe intimate partner violence.
Federal law currently does not require FEMA to address interpersonal violence, sexual assault, or domestic abuse. There are no requirements for specialized procedures in shelters or temporary housing. There are also no requirements for reporting mechanisms or mandated training. These lapses in oversight leave survivors without support.
For example, when assistance is primarily coordinated through one household representative, individuals experiencing violence may not have an opportunity to disclose abuse in private. Or victims may try to seek help from someone who is untrained.
The FEMA for Safe Recovery Act would require FEMA to establish regulations and guidance addressing gender-based violence, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation during disaster response and recovery. Specifically, it will:
- Require FEMA to issue new guidance within one year that covers: coordination between federal and local agencies, safety in disaster shelters, protocols for reporting violence and exploitation, deployment of survivor advocates, and access to disaster information in multiple languages
- Expand crisis counseling and case management assistance to explicitly include support for survivors and require multilingual resources
- Require FEMA personnel to be trained to recognize and respond to survivors of violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking
- Require FEMA check-ins to include all adult members of a household, giving survivors a private chance to disclose abuse
The SVPA supports this bill because it moves disaster response from reacting to harm toward preventing it. It incorporates survivor-informed practices into disaster response and recovery. When disasters disrupt the systems people rely on for safety and stability, survivors need vital support and resources.
“Disasters cause so much trauma. Medical crisis, housing instability, income loss, the death of loved ones. These people have already survived disasters, they should not have to survive sexual violence too,” said Omny Miranda Martone, Founder and CEO of the SVPA. “The FEMA for Safe Recovery Act will equipt FEMA with the guidance and tools necessary to identify and address these risks, protect survivors, and prevent sexual violence during and after disasters.”
Endorsing this bill is part of SVPA’s advocacy to prevent sexual violence and increase protections for survivors. Recent policy wins at the state and federal level include the Take It Down Act, CA HEAR Survivors Act, CA Prisons Sexual Assault Act, and CO Strip Search Act. SVPA is urging Congress to pass the DEFIANCE Act, CONSENT Act, WISE Act, Epstein Files Transparency Act II, and the Survivors’ Rights Restitution Act.
SVPA is proud to endorse the FEMA for Safe Recovery Act. We urge Congress to swiftly pass this bill to ensure FEMA addresses and prevents sexual violence at every stage of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
