WUNRN
Examples of Gender focus in Report:
36. Through his work, the Special Rapporteur
has placed particular emphasis on the gender dimension of the right to adequate
housing. In its resolution 2002/49 entitled “Women’s equal ownership of access
to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate
housing”, the Commission on Human Rights entrusted the Special Rapporteur with
the additional task of conducting a global study on women and adequate housing.
37. To achieve this objective, the Special
Rapporteur conducted a range of dialogues with States and civil society,
elaborated a questionnaire on women and adequate housing,[1][1] and organized seven regional consultations,
reflected in his three reports on this question.[2][2]
38. Critical factors affecting women’s rights
to adequate housing and land are lack of secure tenure; lack of information
about women’s human rights; lack of access to affordable social services; lack
of adequate laws safeguarding women’s equal rights to housing, land, property
and inheritance; lack of access to credit and housing subsidies; bureaucratic
barriers preventing access to housing programmes; rising poverty and
unemployment; and discriminatory cultural and traditional practices. The Special
Rapporteur notes that a State’s obligation to eliminate gender discrimination
is one of immediate effect and failure to do so constitutes a human rights
violation.
39. There is an urgent need to address
multiple forms of discrimination that women face on grounds including race,
class, ethnicity, caste, health status, disability, income, sexual orientation,
and other factors. An intersectional approach to gender discrimination is
essential to address the multiple forms of discrimination faced by women.[3][3] Other categories of women may face further
discrimination due to their status, including women affected by domestic
violence, women in rural and remote areas, women affected by HIV/AIDS, pregnant
women, women with newborn children, and single women, including single mothers.
40. The work on women and
housing has clearly demonstrated the clear link between violence against women
and the human right to adequate housing, and the crucial importance of an
intersectional approach to the problem. In its resolution 2005/25, the
Commission on Human Rights requested the Special Rapporteur to cooperate with
the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences,
in the elaboration of model provisions to protect women’s rights in housing and
domestic violence legislation, to ensure women’s full and equal access to
national legal aid schemes to protect their housing, land and property rights
in cases of divorce, inheritance and domestic violence. These model provisions
are under preparation.
41. The Special Rapporteur
encourages OHCHR to publish a study which will analyse and present the wealth
of material, testimonies, and case studies generated by the work on women and
housing.
|
|
|
A |
|
|
GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Distr. GENERAL A/HRC/7/16 13
February 2008 Original: ENGLISH |
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Seventh Session
Agenda Item 3
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON
ADEQUATE HOUSING
AS A COMPONENT OF THE RIGHT TO AN
ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING,
MILOON KOTHARI
FULL REPORT IS ATTACHED.
________________________________________________________________________
================================================================
To leave the list, send your request by email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com.
Thank you.
[1][1] See A/HRC/4/18, annex III or the Special Rapporteur’s web page on women and housing available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/women.htm.
[2][2] E/CN.4/2003/55, E/CN.4/2005/43 and E/CN.4/2006/118 also available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/women.htm.
[3][3] Study by the Special Rapporteur on Women and adequate housing, E/CN.4/2005/43.