WUNRN
COHRE
- the Centre on Housing Rights & Evictions
Direct Link to 6-Page Guidelines
Document:
New
Guidelines Tackle Impact of Forced Evictions on Women
22 October 2010
– Worldwide, millions of poor communities face forced evictions every
year. Yet, it is women who are most often the ones at home when the
bulldozers come.
Addressing this issue, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), a Geneva-based international housing rights watchdog, today released its Guidelines on Gender Sensitive Approaches and Alternatives to Eviction.
Women and children fleeing the Burmese Army (© Free
The Guidelines, based
on international human rights standards, tackle head-on a government’s duty to
pursue gender-sensitive alternatives to eviction, including through consulting
with affected women, and to take steps so that women are not disadvantaged or
abused when evictions do take place.
“While there
are good standards regarding the prohibition on forced eviction, most of these
standards are not gender-sensitive and do not directly speak to women’s
experiences of forced eviction,” said Mayra Gomez, COHRE’s Senior Expert on
Women and Housing Rights.
“That is why we
felt it was critical to articulate clear standards in this area, so that women
could be better protected.”
COHRE’s Guidelines stress
that States have concrete responsibilities to uphold women’s rights within the
context of forced evictions, and to take steps before forced evictions occur to
ensure that these rights are not violated.
The Guidelines place
emphasis on preventing and addressing the phenomenon of violence against women
within the context of forced eviction, noting that governments need to provide
training to all personnel involved in carrying out evictions on respectful
treatment of women during eviction, and need to communicate and enforce a
zero-tolerance policy on gender-based harassment and violence.
But violence
against women is not the only concern during evictions. In its Guidelines,
COHRE urges States to ensure the continuity of girls’ education and women’s
livelihoods should an eviction occur, and ensure gender equity in
rehabilitation, relocation, resettlement and compensation schemes.
“We know from
our experience working with women who have either faced or been threatened with
forced eviction that, in the midst of the violence and chaos that often
accompanies forced evictions, they often face violence and harassment,” said
Mayra Gomez.
“We also know
that women often suffer additional violence in the home after forced eviction,
and that forced evictions increase women’s and girl’s social, economic and
educational isolation.”