A/72/128 result from deinstitutionalization without adequate community support or affordable housing in the community. 19 22. Homelessness for persons with disabilities is also linked to the breakdown of family relationships. A study in Montreal, Canada, of homeless persons with intellectual disabilities found that almost all individ uals who lived on the street or in shelters had had no contact with their families since becoming homeless. 20 On mission in Chile, the Special Rapporteur visited a homeless shelter run by the Salvation Army in Valparaiso where many of the residents were per sons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities who had been shunned or abandoned by their families. 4. Informal settlements and homeless encampments 23. Persons with disabilities living in poverty in cities commonly live in informal settlements or homeless encampments. The Special Rapporteur has been shocked by the deplorable conditions endured by persons with disabilities in those contexts. Many, including young children and older persons, are left to languish in isolation, sometimes in dark rooms without electricity, hidden from view at the back of the home, without access to community centres, social opportunities or health clinics. 24. Water, sanitation and hygiene facilities are often inaccessible and located some distance from the home. Those with mobility impairments may be dependent on assistance or forced to drag themselves along the ground to reach the facilities. In many situations, persons with disabilities are simply unable to gain access to toilets, must defecate in their homes and are often unable to remove waste. Streets or alleys in informal settlements are often sand, gravel or mud, sometimes built into steep cliffs and hill-sides, and are not accessible to persons in wheelchairs or with reduced mobility. 25. The experiences of persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities living in informal settlements and homeless encampments vary. In some cases, communities develop impressive informal networks to provide the necessary support and ensure inclusion in the community, providing community living that avoids institutionalization and segregation. In other situations, however, as observed first-hand by the Special Rapporteur on mission, informal settlements duplicate societal patterns of discrimination and isolation, exacerbated by deprivation of the most basic necessities. 5. Living with family 26. For many persons with disabilities, living with family members and relying on informal support is their only option. Family members commonly show strong commitment in their provision of support. Those providing support are usually women, who are frequently abandoned by spouses and required to relinquish possibilities of employment, leading to long-term poverty. 21 27. In other circumstances, however, living with family is not an approp riate or safe option. Persons with disabilities are more likely to be subjected to abuse within families or other households. A study in Uganda found that half of interviewees with psychosocial disabilities reported having been subjected to abuse at the ha nds of __________________ 19 20 21 17-11724 A/HRC/34/58, para. 18. C. Mercier and S. Picard, “Intellectual disability and homelessness”, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, vol. 55, No. 4 (Montreal, 2011), pp. 441-449. A/HRC/34/58, para. 20. 9/23