Women are the worst affected in forced evictions,
resettlement schemes, slum clearance, domestic violence, civil conflict,
discriminatory inheritance laws and practices, development projects, and
globalisation policies. Rape is often used to forcibly remove women from
their homes before and during forced evictions. UN-HABITAT's Land and
Tenure Section is the agency's point of reference for land management and
tenure systems, policies and legislation that help achieve adequate
shelter, security of tenure and equal access to economic resources for all,
with a specific focus on gender equality. The main focus areas and mandate
are implementation of land, housing and property rights, and particularly
secure tenure for women.
Close
to one third of the world’s women are homeless or live in inadequate
housing and in many countries, a majority of homeless women have escaped
from domestic violence. In France alone, six women die every month as a
result of domestic violence, while in the US, an estimated 60 per cent of
homeless women are escaping domestic violence.
Women in Africa and south Asia, especially, are systematically denied
the right to own or inherit land, housing and property. They can only
access land and housing through male relatives and their security of tenure
is dependent on good marital and family relations.
According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, “In
almost all countries, whether ‘developed’ or ‘developing’, legal security
of tenure for women is almost entirely dependent on the men they are
associated with. Women headed households and women in general are far less
secure than men. Very few women own land. A separated or divorced woman
with no land and a family to care for often ends up in an urban slum, where
her security of tenure is at best questionable.”
“Securing tenure for the household does not necessarily secure
tenure for women and children. The extension of secure tenure must benefit
women and men equally, which will require some fundamental changes to the
rights of women.” Global Campaign for Secure Tenure, Implementing the
Habitat Agenda.
Without implementation of their equal rights to adequate housing, land
and property, women cannot enjoy other fundamental human rights such as:
- the right to privacy
- the right to the
highest attainable standard of health
- the right to food
- the right to water
- the right to
protection of the law against interference or attacks against one's
privacy,
- family and home
- equal rights before,
during and upon dissolution of a marriage
- the right to
security of person
- the right to equal
protection before the law, and
- the right to
self-determination.
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