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Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- States should ensure that housing includes water points and sanitation facilities available for and accessible to women, ensuring women their rights to water and sanitation, as well as to health. States should also ensure that housing is adequately located in order to provide women with access to employment options, health-care services, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities, such that they are non-discriminatory, adequate, available and fully accessible to women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- The housing situation of children is directly connected to the status of their migrant parents. When parents, and especially migrant single mothers, have no access to employment, social benefits or other sources of livelihood in the host country, children may end up living in substandard conditions or being homeless alongside their parents. On many occasions, migrant women heads of families, sometimes in charge of several children, have had great difficulty in finding employment and caring for their children, finding reduced opportunities to provide adequate shelter and essential food.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- International migrants worldwide are estimated to number over 200 million, representing 3.1 per cent of the world population. Ninety million of them are migrant workers. Forty-eight per cent of all international migrants are women. While the larger proportion of migrants moves from low- and middle-income countries to high-income countries, representing a total flow of 80 million persons, it is estimated that South-South migration accounts for 47 per cent of all migration from the South. Migration between developing countries may be even higher if undocumented migration is considered, as official numbers are for the most part unknown, but it is estimated to be around one third of documented migration.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Migrant women often find themselves in a situation of vulnerability owing to the multiple forms of discrimination that they suffer as both migrants and women, their limited access to social security, their predominance in informal employment and their prevalent role in family care. Women tend more frequently to find themselves in vulnerable employment or to be unemployed. In a situation of recession and rising unemployment, both documented and undocumented migrant women are forced to accept inadequate terms and conditions of employment and are particularly vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Women often work in informal and temporary jobs, such as in domestic work, care activities and other informal jobs, with no social security, few rights and lower wages than their male counterparts. In such conditions, migrant women often find it difficult to find private accommodation for themselves and their families when they are the primary caregivers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- For example, between 15,000 and 20,000 Roma people are currently living in the Italian capital. Most of them have Romanian citizenship or originate from countries of former Yugoslavia - Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In 2008, Roma families were victims of assaults and discrimination, including eviction from illegal settlements across Rome. These evictions were characterized by the indiscriminate destruction of their huts and lack of provision of alternative housing, which left hundreds of Roma, including women and children, without shelter.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In the present report, the Special Rapporteur pays particular attention to the situation of migrant workers employed in low-skilled and informal work as well as undocumented migrants, not only because their housing situation is of grave concern, but also because they represent the largest proportion of migrants worldwide, and thus their human rights situation is regrettably replicated across the globe. The situation of migrant workers belonging to minority groups and migrant women and children is also explored, in the light of the multiple forms of exclusion these vulnerable groups experience. Before referring to the challenges faced by migrants in their right to adequate housing and the public policies affecting them, the report analyses the legal framework applicable to migrants regarding their access to adequate housing and evokes the importance of the principle of equality and non-discrimination in this context.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- In Honduras, in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the groups disproportionately affected included poor women, peasants and indigenous groups, many of whom had been living under insecure tenure conditions and in vulnerable areas exposed to strong winds, flooding and landslides (see A/HRC/16/42, para. 32). In Colombia, the floods throughout 2010 and into 2011 were said to have disproportionately affected those already displaced by conflict, particularly indigenous and Afro-Colombians, who tended to live in remote areas subject to violence from armed groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Recovery efforts, by overlooking or directly discriminating against some groups, can perpetuate and even reinforce pre-existing patterns of vulnerability and disadvantage. This is often the case with women. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, it was reported that the international response on many occasions strengthened "those who were better off and/or more articulate … while marginalizing those who had few assets, notably women". Relief efforts and policies, for instance, excluded women from livelihoods assistance and on occasion directly undermined women's pre-existing rights, such as their rights to housing or land in matrilineal communities. When women also happen to have insecure tenure - as they often do because their access to housing and land frequently hinges on a relationship with a man, or because they face additional hurdles as sole head of a household, they are particularly vulnerable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The poor often stand to lose most in disaster contexts because they often have to settle on fragile and exposed land that is highly susceptible to the effects of disasters. When a disaster strikes, their pre-existing vulnerabilities are exacerbated, with women, children and marginalized groups bearing the brunt of the impact. After the disaster, the poor often also find their attempts to return to their homes officially denied on the grounds that return would be unsafe, and/or not permissible as they did not have official proof of a right to live there in the first place. This can have dramatic consequences for the livelihoods of individuals, families and entire communities. In the case of conflicts, the displacement and dispossession of specific groups are often deliberate strategies of one group or side in the conflict against another. This can result in the total destruction and/or secondary occupation of their lands and homes, and obstruction of their attempts to return and reclaim what was theirs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- A rapid assessment and analysis of pre-existing tenure and property rights systems should be conducted in the immediate aftermath of a disaster or conflict. The aims of this assessment should be: (1) to guide on urgent steps to be taken to protect the right to adequate housing and tenure security of all, but particularly the poorer and marginalized members of society; (2) to identify areas of opportunity where, with the presence and support of bilateral and multilateral international agencies, opportunities could arise for improvement and innovation (for example securing of previously unavailable housing-related rights and entitlements for women); (3) to identify and warn against risk areas where poorly informed actions would result in further housing rights violations. This rapid assessment should be an essential step towards the formulation of a more detailed and comprehensive land management, allocation and registration strategy for sustainable rehabilitation and reconstruction.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- These and other proposals to address housing, land and property rights through the active participation of the affected people, and to build on existing community processes, were not taken up by the transitional authorities or the newly independent Government. In the aftermath of the later wave of violence, destruction and displacement of 2006-7, the need for such involvement became prominently recognised. The five pillars of the National Recovery Strategy included one aimed at building trust within communities and between the people and the Government. This was in the context of urgent attempts to achieve the reintegration and return of IDPs displaced by the violence to their communities, with the incentive of cash compensation from the State with which they could repair their homes or settle in alternative areas in cases where reintegration proved impossible. As part of a Dialogue, Communications and Outreach Programme, dialogue teams were established to manage the necessary conflict resolution, mediation and negotiation processes. This required the participation of local authorities, youth leaders and other groupings. The programme, which was still continuing in some communities in May 2010, incorporated the use of customary dispute resolution practices and peacebuilding ceremonies. It is widely regarded as having been successful and necessary for peacebuilding and the safe return of IDPs. Women reportedly participated far more actively than men in the community dialogue and reconciliation process. This was in contrast to the compensation payment process, which had been male-dominated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Research conducted by the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP) and the ProVention Consortium in the wake of the 2005 South Asia earthquake found "accumulated evidence that people affected by disasters want to participate fully in the response, even if this means a slower implementation process. However, disbursement pressure - the need to get money out of the door - has in the past partly determined response mechanis."While emphasizing the importance of participation, the study also cautions: "When considering communities […] it is important to remember: not to romanticise the coping capacities and resilience of local people and communities - they often face insurmountable difficulties when responding to major disasters; that often 'communities', particularly in areas of high inequality, are made up of different interest groups, and include marginalised groups who may well have difficulty getting their views represented; cultural 'norms' may also, for example, work against women's rights."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- These tasks are all the more challenging in cases of prolonged, mass displacement. Displacement is a notorious driver of human and particularly housing-rights violations. According to displacement and resettlement experts there are eight major displacement impoverishment risk areas: landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, increased morbidity and mortality, food insecurity, loss of access to common property resources, and social/community disarticulation. While the impacts of displacement are devastating for all who are affected, they are most acutely felt by those groups more vulnerable to discrimination, including women, minorities, children and persons with disabilities. If not mitigated through intensive, concerted effort, the consequences are long-term, entrenching patterns of poverty, exclusion, dependency and disempowerment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- [In preparing for reconstruction and development, all relevant parties and actors should acknowledge that housing has an inherent social value of vital importance for social stability, alleviation of poverty and development. Any response to the impacts of conflicts or disasters on the right to adequate housing should go beyond a focus on the damage, loss or destruction of shelter and infrastructure and should seek to address, inter alia:] The specific rights and concerns of women and other groups particularly vulnerable to discrimination;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- Finally, while it is true that women and the home are still in many places closely connected for social and cultural reasons, to insist that a woman's right to adequate housing is upheld should not reinforce the old (and discriminatory) adage that "a woman's place is in the home". Rather, securing women's right to adequate housing ultimately ensures greater autonomy for women in all areas of their lives, and not less. Advocating on behalf of women's right to adequate housing is not about confining women to certain gender roles. Instead, it is about acknowledging that gender as a social construct fundamentally impacts the ways in which women and men experience their housing situations, and that in order for women to enjoy adequate housing on the basis of equality their needs must be understood and made visible within the framework of the right to adequate housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Housing law, policy and programmes should also ensure that women have the legal literacy and legal resources needed to effectively claim and enforce their rights within the context of eviction. Women must "have the right to relevant information, full consultation and participation throughout the entire [evictions] process, and to propose alternatives that authorities should duly consider" and in the event of eviction "[w]omen and men must be co-beneficiaries of all compensation packages. Single women and widows should be entitled to their own compensation."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Water points and sanitation facilities must be made available and accessible to women, ensuring women's rights to water and sanitation, as well as to health. In order to ensure that women's needs are adequately reflected in housing law, policy, and programming, a human rights-based approach requires that women be able to participate in all stages of policy and programme development, so that they are able to give input into the kinds of resources most needed by them within their specific social and cultural context. For example, the recent Inter-Agency Standing Committee guidelines on addressing gender issues in the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake of January 2010 highlighted that "it is essential that water and sanitation actors consult women and girls on the location of sanitation facilities to ensure that the route is safe; that latrines be well lit, lockable from the inside, and offer privacy."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- During that period, regional civil society consultations were held with support from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Those regional consultations highlighted key issues related to women's right to adequate housing, most of which remain relevant today, including women's right to adequate housing and access to land in the context of HIV/AIDS; violence against women and its relationship to housing; the impact of forced evictions on women; gender discrimination in law, custom and practice related to housing (including discriminatory practices with respect to property and inheritance); as well as intersectional discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Those consultations brought to light the specific difficulties that women, in every region, have to face in accessing housing and land. And, to make matters worse, far from being a place of safety and security, the home is too often permeated by violence. Women, those consultations highlighted, were likely to experience physical and sexual assault within the context of forced evictions. They also face insecurity and abuse within their own communities, including domestic violence. While the home should be a place of security, dignity, peace, and equality, for millions of women around the world the right to adequate housing has gone unfulfilled and unrealized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Urgent progress must be made if women are to see improvements in their actual housing situations. However, what we have seen is far from what is required. In fact, within the context of the global financial crisis there has been a worrying move away from human rights standards, such as those requiring allocation of the maximum of available resources towards the realization of the right to adequate housing, or prioritizing marginalized women in all matters related to housing law, policy and programming. Rather, the trend has been towards increased privatization and further deregulation of the housing market, a move which leaves millions of women at the periphery, unable to access adequate housing. This situation not only perpetuates women's poverty, it also reinforces women's second-class status and gender inequality itself.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Each of these advancements in law and policy represents an important achievement which ought to be celebrated. Yet, women throughout the world continue to face entrenched de jure and de facto barriers to the realization and enjoyment of this right. When it comes to women's right to adequate housing, much more needs to be done to ensure the effective domestication of human rights standards and the harmonization of national legislative frameworks with those international standards. In addition, the conceptual tensions which exist between "progressive realization" on the one hand (which is applicable to the achievement of substantive rights contained within the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights versus the immediate obligation of States to ensure that women enjoy their rights to non-discrimination and equality on the other (as guaranteed under both the Covenant and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as other relevant treaties) must be addressed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Similar concerns were also echoed across other regions. For example, in Spain, where foreclosures have soared during the last three years, women participating in the e-consultation reported that poor women and their families have been especially impacted, and that they continue to "experience the devastating effects of the economic crisis at close quarters." As in other countries, those hit the hardest by cuts to social programmes have been those women already marginalized. The consequences of foreclosure for women are similar to what has been documented in terms of the impact of forced evictions, namely increased social isolation, increased exposure to domestic violence, and deepened poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- While the financial crisis looms heavy, it is important to recognize that some significant legal, policy and judicial progress has been achieved in recent years which increasingly recognizes and protects women's right to adequate housing. This section highlights some of the recent successes in the fight for women's equal right to adequate housing, including on issues related to inheritance, divorce, land and property at international, regional and national levels. While not meant to be a comprehensive account of all of the advancements that have been made, each of the laws, policies, frameworks, decisions and/or judicial decisions highlighted below has had positive attributes from the standpoint of women's right to adequate housing, as well as their right to equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Women's right to adequate housing is often denied or ignored within the broader context of family and marriage law. Equality in matters of inheritance is often denied for women and girls on the basis of custom and tradition, whether within the context of the death of a spouse, parent or other relative. This has important ramifications, as inheritance is a primary means by which wealth and resources are transferred within societies, as well as within families. To be excluded from the process of inheritance reinforces women's lack of autonomy and equality, and jeopardizes in a very direct way their right to adequate housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- However, adequate housing for women goes far beyond addressing basic material needs. Because of the close connection that exists between the right to adequate housing and the right to equality, adequate housing for women goes to the heart of social inequality and discrimination. When a woman is unable to access adequate housing and land mainly because she is a woman, she is not only affected in terms of her immediate material needs, she is also relegated to a subordinate and dependent position within society because of her gender. Ensuring that women have access to and control over, vital resources such as housing and land is essential to challenging and changing gender power structures and patterns of gender inequality which continue to oppress, exclude and relegate women to the margins.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- This negative impact has also certainly been felt by women living in other countries and regions. In Africa, for example, the consultation highlighted that since the onset of the global financial crisis, reductions in foreign aid, as well as foreign direct investments and remittances, have directly resulted in significant cutbacks in national-level housing programmes. In addition, the recent growth in land grabbing and the sale of formerly communal lands to foreign investors has made women's access to land even more difficult, and also jeopardizes directly their rights to adequate housing, water and sanitation, food and health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- In applying the law, the courts also have a critical role to play. In Kenya, recent judicial decisions referencing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women have put to rest the persistent conflict between customary legal systems which deny women inheritance of family property on the one hand, and the guarantee of gender equality under the Kenyan Constitution on the other. In the Ntutu case (2008), for example, the Kenyan High Court heard arguments by the sons of the deceased that "Masai customary law of succession … does not recognize the rights of the daughters to inherit the estate of their fathers." Here, the Court applied international human rights law, international covenants and treaties which have been ratified by Kenya, and noted the previous decision of Rono vs. Rono. The Court found "the customary law which shall abrogate the right of daughters to inherit the estate of a father cannot be applicable as it shall be repugnant to justice and morality," and upheld the right of the daughters to inherit equally from the assets of the estate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 15/8, and constitutes the third annual report submitted to the Council since the current Special Rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, assumed her functions on 1 April 2008. It focuses on the question of women and their right to adequate housing. For women across the world, the right to adequate housing is as yet unrealized. The status of women's right to adequate housing is central not only to understanding the female face of poverty worldwide, but also to understanding the dynamics of gender inequality itself, both within and outside the home.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The e-consultation highlighted a host of issues which continue to impact the ability of women to enjoy their right to adequate housing or which otherwise have a disproportionate gender impact. In all regions, patriarchy and gender discrimination; poverty; and the impact of globalization, neo-liberal economic policies and privatization surfaced as overarching issues of concern which set the stage for violations of women's right to adequate housing. More specifically, the impact of natural and human-induced disasters, conflict and internal displacement, war and occupation, lack of affordable and low-cost housing, forced evictions, homelessness, domestic violence, lack of women's participation in law and policy-making, lack of access to remedies, inadequate and discriminatory laws, and the application of discriminatory customary law, all emerged as relevant barriers to women's right to adequate housing across regions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Women's access to and control over land is also a critical issue which connects in very real ways to women's right to adequate housing. At national levels, advancements in this area are also taking place. In Tajikistan, a joint effort of UNIFEM (now UN-Women) with the Government of Tajikistan, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other partners resulted in the establishment of the Coordination Council dealing with women's ownership issues, whose key task was to mainstream gender in Tajik land reform. In 2004, seven changes were made to the clauses of the national Land Code which previously discriminated against women. Changes in the Land Code made it mandatory that all family members - women included - are now listed on land use certificates when families receive pieces of land from former collective farms. Over the course of a few years, those changes coupled with media campaigns, the provision of free legal advice, and the collection of sex-disaggregated data, resulted in raising women's land ownership from 2 to 14 per cent.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
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