Here’s how KC Council could protect victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse

Imagine you’re a victim of sexual abuse or domestic violence in your home, yet you can’t leave because you can’t break your lease.

Or, just as worrisome, your landlord wants to evict you just because you’re a victim of abuse, or stalking, or violence.

Members of the Kansas City Council have a chance this summer to address these horrible scenarios. They should do so.

Councilwoman Jolie Justus has introduced an ordinance that would prevent landlords from evicting tenants or their dependents who are victims of domestic abuse or stalking.

Additionally, the proposal would allow renters who face stalking or violence to break their leases without any penalty.

This provision is obviously essential for stalking victims. A woman threatened by a stalker should clearly be free to move somewhere else, without a financial penalty, to avoid the threat.

But there are other reasons a domestic violence victim might want to break a lease. On occasion, authorities will remove children from a home with an abusive parent. Those children typically can’t be reunited with the victim until she finds a new place to live.

Allowing abuse victims to break a lease and reunite with their children is an important goal. “It’s one more tool in the toolbox” to help victimized women, Justus told The Star.

Tenants can seek the help of the city prosecutor to enforce the law. That reduces private legal costs and should make it easier for tenants in abusive situations to move.

It’s possible landlords will resist the proposal. They may claim unscrupulous tenants will use the ordinance to break otherwise legal rental agreements.

But there are safeguards in the measure aimed at limiting fraud. A tenant who wants to break a lease will need to provide written notice, as well as a copy of any court order of protection for herself or any dependents.

Additionally, a tenant who willfully provides false information to a landlord will be subject to penalty.

It isn’t clear how deep this problem goes. But as Justus points out, the policy is critical for any woman involved in an abusive relationship. No Kansas Citian should be forced to risk life or health just to comply with a lease.

And no Kansas Citian should be evicted from a home or apartment after becoming a victim of abuse or violence.

Unfortunately, the measure — if passed — would not apply to existing leases. Only rental agreements signed after the ordinance becomes effective would be breakable.

But that still would be progress.

By some estimates, half of the people in Kansas City rent their homes. Renters deserve basic protections such as this, and the Justus ordinance — on the docket for discussion Wednesday — is welcome and needed.