Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 38 entities
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- For women, habitability of housing has been linked to protection against violence within the home. Therefore, the notion of habitability for women must itself be interpreted in a gender-sensitive way, ensuring that housing is safe for women. The notion of habitability must also be sensitive to women's disproportionate caregiving roles. These roles must be considered in the design of housing law, policy and programming. For example, in many parts of the world, it is women who cook and prepare meals. When cooking over open fires or traditional stoves fuelled by wood, animal dung or charcoal, it has been shown that women breathe in a mix of toxic pollutants and are particularly vulnerable to developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). For women, this indoor smoke is responsible for half a million deaths each year, and millions more have their health suffer due to impaired breathing and respiratory disease. In the case of COPD, for example, one study in Xuanwei, China, where rates of lung cancer and COPD are strongly associated with household use of coal fires, researchers showed that simple measures, such as installing a chimney, dramatically reduced the incidence of COPD among women.
- 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
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- One area in which new policies adopted in recent years have increasingly protected women's right to adequate housing is within the context of domestic violence. In Europe, for example, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe issued a recommendation on the implementation of the right to housing in 2009, advocating the adoption and implementation of national housing strategies by all Council of Europe member States. Section 4.3.6. of the recommendation deals explicitly with women and women victims of violence, calling upon States "to protect women victims of violence through specific legal and policy initiatives including the provision of specialized emergency shelters and other alternative housing." Section 5 also urges States to adopt national housing strategies that "apply a gender perspective, identify disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and include positive measures for ensuring their effective enjoyment of the right to housing," and also to "adopt anti-violence provisions in housing legislation and policies and ensure that domestic violence laws include provisions to protect women's right to housing, including the right to privacy and security."
- 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
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Where evictions are lawful under international human rights law, at no time shall acts of violence and harassment against women be tolerated. As the basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement underscore, States must ensure "that women are not subject to gender-based violence and discrimination in the course of evictions."
- 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
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The foreclosure crisis also has specific gender implications. Again, in the United States alone, researchers estimate that there were 2.5 million foreclosures from 2007 to 2009. Due to gender-based discrimination in mortgage lending, women in the United States - and ethnic minority women, in particular - were 32 per cent more likely than men to be targets of sub-prime and predatory lenders, despite having on average higher credit scores.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- A worldwide online consultation on women and the right to adequate housing was launched, supplemented by direct outreach to women's rights organizations and advocates across regions. The e-consultation served as a new opportunity to identify and make visible the multiple issues which women are currently facing in relation to 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
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- In 2011, the current Special Rapporteur decided once again to address the question of women and the right to adequate housing, in order to gauge what progress has been made in the advancement of this right for women globally since these first consultations were held.
- 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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Significant advances in terms of understanding how non-discrimination and equality apply to the right to adequate housing have emerged from work that has been undertaken on women and housing. In addition to the groundbreaking work carried out on this issue by both previous Special Rapporteurs, as described above, other contributions have been made by United Nations agencies. Civil society organizations have also played a central role in elaborating the content and scope of women's 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
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Legislation and gender-sensitive housing law, policy and programming are only the first step. Even where good laws and policies are in place, an important challenge remains in translating them fully into practice. Unfortunately, in terms of implementation, progress has remained slow. Indeed, during the consultation process for this report, it became clear that even in places where good laws exist, discriminatory social and customary norms continue to hinder the enjoyment of women's 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
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- In addition the global financial crisis emerged as a key cross-cutting theme during the e-consultation. Within this context, cuts to public housing programmes are having a devastating impact for women in many countries across the world. For example, in 2011, the United States cut US$2.8 billion from its federal housing programmes. These cuts to public housing programmes have hit women, and in particular ethnic minority women, women single heads of households, and women with disabilities, the hardest.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- In Africa, a region where the issue of women's access to and control over land emerged as a key theme within the consultation, the recent "Framework and Guidelines for Land Policy in Africa" also represents a positive new development from the standpoint of women's equal right to access and control land, with specific sections on strengthening the land rights of women.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Centrality of the right to adequate housing for the development and implementation of the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III in October 2016 2015, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In some situations, children and youth, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex youth, and women can be vulnerable to violence, requiring access to safe housing and basic services if they are to thrive in the urban context. These groups are often forced into homelessness by sexual and other violence, socioeconomic deprivation, and religious and cultural intolerance within their homes or communities. A sound housing structure does not guarantee safety within housing for these vulnerable groups. When women, children and youth leave their homes, they require both short- and long-term support to secure adequate housing, as they often lack the means to secure housing themselves. In this regard, diverse, culturally appropriate options must be made available.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- States should guarantee the right of women to security of tenure, independent of their relationships with males or community members. States should adopt legislative and administrative measures to prohibit and eliminate discrimination against women in this respect by, inter alios, landlords, public housing providers and credit institutions. States should remove barriers to formal and substantive gender equality whether in laws, policies or programmes affecting tenure. The legal recognition and promotion of diverse tenure arrangements is crucial to removing barriers to tenure security for women, since, currently, they are much less likely than men to own land.
- 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
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur will also ensure that the housing conditions of women remain prominent within all aspects of the mandate. In this regard, she intends to continue the close collaboration the mandate holder has had with civil society organizations spearheading the work on women and the right to housing. She intends to cooperate with bodies within the United Nations system interested in developing a deeper understanding of women's right to adequate housing, including human rights treaty monitoring bodies, the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice and other relevant special procedures.
- 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
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The implementation of housing law, policy and programming often requires that adequate budgetary support be put in place in order to ensure effectiveness. In order to ensure that there are adequate financial and human resources allocated, processes of participatory budgeting which are inclusive of women's voices should be used. Women should be active participants in open and transparent budgeting processes related to all aspects of housing law, policy and programmes as well as land use plans. Gender-sensitive, detailed budget analysis of current housing programmes and land use plans should also be employed, so as to ensure better accountability of States in promoting and realizing gender equality, and in meeting their international human rights obligations.
- 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
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure proper enforcement and implementation, it is also important for the legal system to be accessible to women and itself gender-sensitive, and that it is specifically enabled to protect women's right to adequate housing. In this regard, it is vital for women to have access to affordable or free legal aid which can assist them in seeking justice and enforcing their right to a remedy. Women must also be able, should they so choose, to file legal complaints against the State as well as private and third-party actors for gender-discrimination in housing and other violations of women's right to adequate housing, and to have those complaints decided by a fair and impartial tribunal.
- 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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Awareness should also be raised about women's right to adequate housing amongst key audiences, including traditional, religious and customary leaders; law-makers; lawyers, legal advocates, and members of the judiciary; law enforcement authorities; housing authorities and administrative personnel; gender ministries; and those engaged in the development and/or implementation of land policy and/or land reform. Each of these groups should be made fully aware of the norms protecting women's right to adequate housing at the domestic level, as well as those norms in international law.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Awareness-raising and public human rights education are critical to the advancement of women's de facto enjoyment of the right to adequate housing, and must take place at multiple levels. Participants in the e-consultation from different countries and regions emphasized this point repeatedly, noting how "there is clearly a need for rights education at all levels of society so that access to adequate housing is understood and accepted as a basic human right" and how "we need information campaigns, not only among women but also among those in power too. … training policymakers, police officers, judiciary on women's land and housing rights is also something gravely lacking …".
- 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)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- On the positive side, the design of housing itself can certainly encourage greater equality vis-à-vis enjoyment and use of domestic space. An example of new ways of thinking about domestic space from a gender perspective can be seen through the development of housing projects which seek to promote non-hierarchical and more flexible uses of the home. For example, creating personal workspaces inside the home can support women who are more likely to engage in home-based income-generating activities. Another interesting development which can be found in certain policies relates to the design of kitchens, a traditionally female space which is often cramped and separated. The design of housing from a gender-sensitive perspective can better promote family integration, as well as a more equitable sharing of household responsibilities between women and men through openness and shared use of spaces.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- While the design of housing can be gender-sensitive, most often it is not. Scholars interested in feminist architecture have argued that: Despite this relationship of women to the home, they have little control over the nature of their housing. Architects and planners are usually men and, in the case of local authority housing estates, not of the class of those who actually spend most of their time in the flats and houses they design. It is women who bear the brunt of high-rise flats, estates with no open play spaces, inadequate laundry facilities, noise, vandalism and bad access to shops and transport. Cramped kitchens, damp, thin walls, broken lifts, dark and dangerous stairways and the numerous other consequences of low cost building, make taking care of the home and rearing young children doubly difficult and time-consuming.
- 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
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- As such, when seeking to define affordability, it is important to take into account the gender disparity in income and access to financial resources, and to prioritize the allocation of social or public housing to those who are unable to meet the cost of housing, often women. Within the context of increased privatization of social services, it is also vital that the cost of housing itself be defined to include costs associated with realizing the right to adequate housing, including vis-à-vis rights to water and sanitation, energy supply, etc. Within the framework of housing law, policy and programming, women's access to the financial resources needed to obtain adequate housing - including loans, credits, and/or vouchers, etc. - ought to be reflected.
- 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
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- In order for housing to be adequate, it must be affordable. The definition of what is affordable, however, is not gender-neutral and cannot be thought of as being the same for women and men. Throughout the world, the reality is that women on average earn less than men, accumulate less pension/superannuation support over a lifetime, and have less access to financial resources in general. In a world where housing is often accessed through markets and capital, what may be affordable for the average man may not be affordable for the average woman. In Europe, for example, Eurostat found a persisting gender pay gap of 17.5 per cent on average in 27 European Union Member States.
- 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
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- In this respect, researchers have found that "site planning and location, service arrangements, and the design of community facilities can be critical in easing the burden of women's double day. For example, site layouts can be planned to cluster several houses around a communal area. In [El Salvador], this layout has given rise to informal, collective arrangements for child care which would have been difficult to develop otherwise." On access to employment and livelihoods, researchers have also highlighted that housing location is particularly important for women's employment: as they earn less, the cost and time of long commutes discourages formal employment, and access to markets is vital for typical informal occupations.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- We also see the gender impact of lack of sanitation facilities for women, who are disproportionately exposed to face sexual assault on their way to use facilities. UN-Water has highlighted that: A focus on gender differences is of particular importance with regard to sanitation initiatives, and gender-balanced approaches should be encouraged in plans and structures for implementation, [T]he design and the location of latrines close to home may reduce violence against women, which may occur when women have to relieve themselves in the open after nightfall.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The issue of water demonstrates clearly the relevance of taking a gender-sensitive approach. It is now well-documented that it is women, more than men, who spend precious hours of each day on water collection for themselves and their families when water is not provided at home. Cumulatively, women in South Africa alone must walk the equivalent of a trip to the moon and back 16 times each day just to supply their households with water. However, when States adopt a gender-sensitive approach to water delivery and management, the situation for women can change dramatically, and for the better.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Adequate housing requires availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure, including access to water and sanitation; heating, cooling, and lighting; energy; washing facilities; food storage and refuse disposal; as well as emergency services. Taking into account women's perspectives on these issues is vital given the fact that women tend to spend more time at home, and are often disproportionately burdened with household chores which depend directly on the availability of such services, materials, facilities and infrastructure. There are interesting precedents for this type of gender-sensitive planning, as in the housing project Frauen-Werk-Stadt developed by the City of Vienna. This housing project received international acclaim for being a "housing project for and by women" and was designated a best practice for urban settlements by UN-Habitat and UNESCO.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- It is clear that the legal and policy barriers to women's enjoyment of their right to adequate housing must be removed, and replaced by laws, policies and programming which take a focused and proactive approach. Legislative and policy measures must be put in place at national and regional levels explicitly prioritizing women's right to adequate housing. In order to assist States and other relevant actors in the development of gender-sensitive housing law, policy, and programming, the Special Rapporteur takes this opportunity to provide some guidance on a gender perspective on the elements of the right to adequate housing, through a gendered lens.
- 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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph