Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 35 entities
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The Committee's recognition in these cases that deportation into homelessness may constitute cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, and that victims of homelessness in this context are entitled to a remedy, is significant. It is equally important, however, to ensure access to adjudication and remedy for those who experience the same deprivations of homelessness resulting from inaction or neglect within a State's own borders. In A.H.G and Jasin, the Committee considered the effects of widespread and systemic violations of the right to security and dignity. However, this consideration remained within the negative rights framework of prohibited "treatment" or "punishment". That framework is not conducive to hearing the substantive claim to a life of dignity, security and inclusion advanced by people with disabilities or women escaping violence, who do not see the fulfilment of their human rights merely as freedom from treatment or punishment but more fundamentally as a right to a place to live in dignity 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 48
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also emphasizes that reasonable accommodation in housing is often linked to systemic patterns of discrimination and imbalances in power “which result in a society being designed well for some and not for others”. The Supreme Court of Canada warned that reasonable accommodation claims should not be allowed to shield systemic discrimination from scrutiny or leave in place imbalances in power that have led to the neglect of the needs or perspectives of marginalized groups in the design of policies. It is important to ask, in each individual case, not only what is required by the individual person with a disability to ensure equality, but also why the housing system created the need for individual accommodation in the first place. Requests for modifications of buildings or housing policies are usually only made because those requirements were not adequately considered when buildings or policies were designed in the first place. Persons with disabilities must be empowered to challenge housing, planning and zoning, social protection and justice systems that fail to meet their needs and thus deny them access 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- With the assignment of the right to life to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee was charged with interpreting its universal meaning and clarifying State obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to life. Recent human rights treaties include the right to life as it applies to particular groups, specifically children, migrants and persons with disabilities. No doubt the interpretation of these provisions by treaty bodies will advance the understanding of the right to life in a manner that is informed by the lived experience of these different groups. To date, however, only the Human Rights Committee has adopted a general comment on this right, and all of the substantive jurisprudence on the right to life at the international level adjudicating allegations of violations of the right to life has emerged from cases under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In the light of this leading role, the Committee's jurisprudence requires considered attention.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 78
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- A number of countries identified their national human rights institutions as having the jurisdiction to oversee the implementation of the right to housing for persons with disabilities, including Finland, Namibia and the Republic of Korea.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 72
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Under the National Disability Council Act of 2004 of Namibia, a council is established to monitor the implementation of a national policy on disability, including ensuring adequate allowances and pensions for persons with disabilities and developing and providing accessible housing through public schemes.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 46
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The standard of reasonableness to assess States’ compliance with the obligation to take measures to realize the right to adequate housing for persons with disabilities runs parallel to the similar standard of reasonableness that is applied in the context of the accommodation of the individual needs of persons with disabilities. The former relies on a standard of maximum of available resources to assess programmatic measures to address the systemic needs of persons with disabilities, while the latter relies on a standard of undue or disproportionate burden in relation to the specific measures required in individual cases. In many cases, however, there is no clear divide between individual needs and needs shared with others in the positive measures taken by Governments to ensure access to accessible housing. As Janet E. Lord and Rebecca Brown note, “the obligation to reasonably accommodate the unique needs of persons with disabilities merges with the obligation under the [International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights] and under the economic, social and cultural rights provisions in the [Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities], to apply the maximum of available resources to realizing the substantive rights in question”.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 45e
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has identified some indicators of whether a State has satisfied a standard of reasonableness, including:] Whether policies have prioritized grave situations or situations of risk;
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- At the same time, the right to adequate housing must incorporate the transformative understanding of the human rights of persons with disabilities that is encapsulated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The “disability human rights paradigm” represents a “dramatic change in rights discourse”. It gives new meaning to the concepts of the interdependence and the indivisibility of rights, in particular in relation to the right to live in dignity in a home within a community. It rejects charitable and medical approaches to disability, recognizing that discrimination, inequality and disadvantage are socially constructed responses to diversity and difference. It offers a human rights-based alternative, placing persons with disabilities at the centre of their own lives, as subjects of rights. It recognizes that discrimination often takes the form of programmes and policies designed to meet the needs of dominant groups while ignoring the needs of persons with disabilities. It affirms that dignity, autonomy, independence and participation rely on not only freedom from institutionalization and State control but also positive measures by Governments to support the right to live in the community as one chooses.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- In the Special Rapporteur’s view, the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities must be understood as a dialogue between the jurisprudence and commentary that has evolved over many years and is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the framework for the human rights of persons with disabilities set forth in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The right to housing enshrined in article 11 of the International Covenant has been understood to encompass much more than physical shelter. It is recognized as the right to live in security, peace and dignity. It is fundamentally connected to the rights to life and to non-discrimination and the freedom to choose where to live, as well as to the rights to freedom of expression and association and to participate in public decision-making. It includes security of tenure, the availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure, affordability, habitability, accessibility, appropriate location and cultural adequacy. Those central components of the right to housing have special meaning for persons with disabilities and give rise to particular obligations of States and other actors.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In A.H.G v. Canada, the Committee considered the effect of deporting A.H.G, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, to Jamaica, where he would be exposed to "a great risk of deterioration of his health condition, social exclusion, isolation and homelessness" (CCPR/C/113/D/2091/2011, para. 3.2). A.H.G alleged that deportation would violate the right to life (art. 6) and the right to freedom from cruel and inhuman treatment (art. 7). The Committee received evidence of inadequate housing and support services in Jamaica for persons with psychosocial disabilities and, tragically, after being deported, the author did in fact become homeless, living in an "open dump" (ibid., para. 5.8). Yet the Committee found the claim of a violation of the right to life "insufficiently substantiated" and therefore inadmissible. The Committee apparently applied, in the context of an individual communication, the narrow approach to the right to life that it had warned against in its general comment No. 6 by requiring evidence of a direct and intentional threat to the claimant's life. With respect to the right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, on the other hand, the Committee found a violation, affirming that the aim of article 7 is to protect both the dignity and the physical and mental integrity of the individual - an aim that equally could have been attributed to the right to life.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 34
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- “Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons” is a guiding principle set forth in article 3 (a) of the Convention that is particularly critical in the interpretation of the right to adequate housing. The deprivation of choice of where and with whom to live is often the most critical assault on dignity and autonomy for persons with disabilities.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 73
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Under the Persons with Disabilities Act (2012) of Zambia, an agency is established that coordinates consultation with organizations of persons with disabilities, State institutions and other civil society actors to integrate a disability perspective into national policies, plans and decision-making sectors, and that can make representations on behalf of or provide legal assistance to persons with disabilities in proceedings relating to the rights of persons with disabilities (art. 20 (2) (e)).
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Orphanages housing abandoned children similarly institutionalize and isolate children with disabilities. One study found that 45 per cent of children living in Russian State institutions had impairments.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 75
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In its recent white paper on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Department of Social Services of South Africa called for a comprehensive strategy to realize the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities consistent with the transformative nature of the constitutional right to housing, including supported community living plans, subsidized housing support, universal design as a requirement in infrastructure grants and a sustainable community-based system for support for independent living. In the white paper, emphasis was laid on the critical importance of strengthening the enforcement of existing legislation, improving access to courts, complaints mechanisms and institutions and strengthening the capacity of institutions such as the South African Human Rights Commission and of organizations for persons with disabilities to support persons with disabilities in gaining access to justice.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 74
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Finland reported that its framework for advancing the right to housing for persons with disabilities included: the constitutional protection of the right to housing; the provision of supportive housing and community-based support with a commitment to self-determination in the use of forms of support and services; funding for building and renovating housing to make it accessible and suitable; national action plans on homelessness; and a range of supervisory mechanisms, including an advisory board for the rights of persons with disabilities to oversee coordinated efforts. Finland stated that it considered those currently living in institutions to be homeless and had set a deadline of 2020 to close all institutions, emphasizing the right to live in the community with access to the necessary services and forms of support.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 70
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Information provided by States to the Special Rapporteur for the present report indicates that progress is being made. Mexico reports that its Federal Law for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities of 2011 and its regulation of 2012 explicitly provide for the right to dignified housing (art. 18). The legislation also establishes the right to universal accessibility and housing (art. 16) and is complemented by initiatives and programmes that provide subsidies and lines of credit to make physical alterations to houses to enhance living conditions for persons with disabilities.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 69
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Few States have developed rights-based strategies to address the housing circumstances of persons with disabilities within their jurisdiction, and even fewer have adopted a holistic and systemic approach. Many States continue to rely predominantly on charities and operate within an outdated charitable model in relation to disability. Where rights-based housing strategies and programmes have been developed, they are often not matched with commitments of funds or effective implementation. In other cases, policies may extend to provide support to accommodate physical impairments with respect to housing, but not psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 68
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Human rights protection in housing for persons with disabilities varies considerably among States. A growing number of countries have expressly included the right to housing in their constitutions or human rights legislation, and many also enumerate disability as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Some countries rely on universal guarantees of equality and non-discrimination, which are extended to persons with disabilities. In other countries, however, non-discrimination laws regarding disability are written in the context of specific sectors, such as employment, but fail to include non-discrimination and the duty to provide reasonable accommodation in the context of 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 67
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Effective remedies for violations of the right to adequate housing must be provided wherever possible by interpreting and applying domestic law consistently with the right to housing of persons with disabilities under international human rights law. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights emphasized that “guarantees of equality and non-discrimination should be interpreted, to the greatest extent possible, in ways which facilitate the full protection of economic, social and cultural rights”. Unfortunately, even in the wealthiest countries, where there are sufficient resources to ensure the right to housing of persons with disabilities, courts have failed to interpret domestic human rights guarantees of equality consistently with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and refused to apply such guarantees so as to hold Governments accountable for failures to address widespread homelessness and inadequate housing among persons with disabilities.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 66
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In a decision adopted in 2008, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered the release of all persons who were imprisoned because of psychosocial disabilities, in keeping with the right to equality, health and a dignified life. The Court directed the Government to enact a law to protect the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities and to arrange health services and other necessary measures. Local and international organizations have continued to exert pressure on the Government to implement the Court’s order in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In a decision adopted in 2012, the Court ordered the Government to provide a monthly stipend, build shelters and appoint a social welfare worker in each district.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 63
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In Purohit and Moore v. the Gambia, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights considered a case of forcible institutionalization without due process in the Gambia. The Commission not only found that the legislation itself violated provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, but also took note of the obligation to progressively realize the right to health by addressing violations of socioeconomic rights. The Commission stated that, throughout Africa, poverty rendered persons “incapable to provide the necessary amenities, infrastructure and resources that facilitate the full enjoyment of [the right to health]” and read into the right to health the obligation of States parties to the African Charter “to take concrete and targeted steps, while taking full advantage of its available resources, to ensure that the right to health is fully realized in all its aspects without discrimination of any kind”.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 60
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In only one communication considered under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has a violation of article 28 been alleged. In the case of H.M. v. Sweden, a municipality refused to grant an exception to a development plan to allow the claimant to build a hydrotherapy pool required for the treatment of her health condition. Having found that the refusal of reasonable accommodation violated the claimant’s right to non-discrimination, as well as her rights under article 19, the Committee declined to decide whether that denial also violated article 28. It is noteworthy, however, that the Committee extended the remedy beyond the author’s individual circumstances, recommending that the State party ensure that “its legislation and the manner in which it is applied by domestic courts is consistent with the State party’s obligations under the Convention”. This is an example of the manner in which reasonable accommodation claims can give rise to individual as well as systemic and/or legislative remedies.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 47
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- For the Special Rapporteur, it is critical that both dimensions of States’ positive obligations be implemented on the basis of a robust standard of reasonableness. That means adopting reasonable measures to address the systemic need for adequate and accessible housing of persons with disabilities by implementing necessary programmes and budgetary allocations while also meeting the immediate obligation to accommodate individual needs. The requirement of reasonable measures in both contexts should be seen as a rigorous standard to be met, never as a defence for inaction.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 43
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Under article 13 of the Convention, it is required that persons with disabilities have effective access to justice in all stages of legal proceedings, on an equal basis with others. States should ensure access to justice for claims relating to the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities, establish complaints and accountability mechanisms and ensure that courts are authorized and adequately resourced to hear and adjudicate claims relating to the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities. National human rights institutions also have an important role to play in facilitating participation and effective monitoring by providing independent accountability mechanisms and in facilitating access to justice through complaints procedures or by supporting or initiating systemic claims before courts or tribunals.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 42
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Participation is integral to the implementation of the right to housing of persons with disabilities. In article 4 (3) of the Convention, it is stated that, in the implementation of legislation, policy or other decisions, States must closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities through their representative organizations. As stated by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, participation leads to the promotion of agency and empowerment, ownership, pride and better decisions, since persons with disabilities are best placed to identify their diverse needs. Effective participation, however, must be grounded in human rights and meaningful accountability. Under article 33 of the Convention, all States are required to develop independent institutions to monitor its implementation, including the right to housing, ensuring that persons with disabilities and their representative organizations are involved and participate fully in the monitoring process.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 38
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Equality and non-discrimination are crucial for the realization of the right to housing of persons with disabilities under article 28. States must take positive measures to the maximum of available resources to address systemic homelessness and deprivation of housing, which disproportionately affects persons with disabilities, and to strive towards the full realization of the right to adequate housing for all persons with disabilities. In the Convention, it is made abundantly clear that the right to non-discrimination of persons with disabilities is not simply a negative right, requiring Governments and private actors to refrain from actions that exclude persons with disabilities, but also a positive right, requiring them to take measures to ensure the enjoyment of the right to housing. As Andrea Broderick notes, “the intersection of equality and socioeconomic rights in the [Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities] may provide a key to unlocking the structural inequalities which disabled people, and by extension other marginalised groups, have encountered for too long now”.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 37
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The right to non-discrimination also requires Governments and private actors to take positive measures to reasonably accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities insofar as such accommodation is “necessary and appropriate” and does not impose a “disproportionate or undue burden”. Reasonable accommodation is not restricted to physical modifications to existing housing. It also includes an obligation to adapt the application of laws and policies. As a component of the right to non-discrimination, reasonable accommodation is considered an immediate obligation of 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 35
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Freedom of choice for persons with disabilities is not just a civil and political right to freedom from forced institutionalization. In article 19 of the Convention, the right to be free to choose where and with whom one lives is set out as a positive right to be included in the community, with access to a range of residential and other support services. In addition, article 19 must be read in conjunction with and is reinforced by article 28 to require not only services but also adequate, accessible housing in which to live.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination is compounded by other grounds, notably sex, gender, socioeconomic status, race and belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority groups. Indigenous peoples in Canada experience twice the rate of disability as the non-indigenous population and are subjected to intersecting discrimination on the basis of indigeneity, poverty and disability. Criminalization of persons with disabilities, in particular those living in homelessness and those with psychosocial disabilities, is common. A typical pattern for persons with psychosocial disabilities is first to lose their housing, when their needs are not accommodated or when they do not receive adequate financial assistance, then to be criminalized in the context of homelessness and then to be incarcerated. In prison, punitive responses for persons with psychosocial disabilities result in extended isolation, segregation, further deterioration of mental health and an ongoing cycle of homelessness and incarceration.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The negotiation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, however, brought about a transformative approach to disability, placing the economic, social and cultural rights and the civil and political rights of persons with disabilities within a unified framework. In the Convention, the right to adequate housing is recognized on an equal basis without discrimination, including through the provision of reasonable accommodation. Furthermore, a substantive right to adequate housing for persons with disabilities is affirmed outside an “equal enjoyment” framework and without comparison to the mainstream population. It is thus recognized in the Convention that the right to adequate housing has a particular meaning for persons with disabilities and imposes distinct obligations upon 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph