A/HRC/7/16 page 14 Rights requested the Special Rapporteur to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, in the elaboration of model provisions to protect women’s rights in housing and domestic violence legislation, to ensure women’s full and equal access to national legal aid schemes to protect their housing, land and property rights in cases of divorce, inheritance and domestic violence. These model provisions are under preparation. 41. The Special Rapporteur encourages OHCHR to publish a study which will analyse and present the wealth of material, testimonies, and case studies generated by the work on women and housing. B. Children and adequate housing 42. Since his first report26 the Special Rapporteur has drawn the attention of the international community to the integral link between children’s housing rights and living conditions and their cognitive, physical, cultural, emotional and social development, particularly as children are disproportionately vulnerable to the negative effects of inadequate and insecure living conditions.27 A house must be perceived as a home, a stable point in a child’s life she/he can return to with a sense of safety and security. 43. Numerous reports have documented an increase in the number of homeless children around the world and the plight of children living in distressed housing. This is reflected in the conditions and circumstances of children living in slum and squatter settlements, on streets and other perilous locations, and in shelters made of hazardous materials. The situation of children living in especially difficult circumstances requires special and urgent attention. These include: children with physical and mental disabilities; victims of natural and human-made disasters; refugee children; street children; slum and migrant children; orphans and destitute children; children affected by HIV/AIDS (including children of parents with HIV/AIDS and AIDS orphans as well as those infected); child prostitutes; children of sex workers; children in conflict with the law; and child labourers. 44. In accordance with the provisions of article 20 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Special Rapporteur has recommended that States should ensure that “no child will be subjected to discrimination with regard to his or her right to adequate housing on the grounds of his or her parents’ race, colour, national or ethnic origin, sex, property or other status, and that special protection and assistance be provided to children living in the streets and those temporarily or permanently deprived of a family environment”.28 26 E/CN.4/2001/51. 27 During his term, the Special Rapporteur has particularly noticed how children tend to suffer disproportionately both in the short and long term, from the loss of homes, shelter and possessions. When children lose their homes, they also lose their source of security; they lose their psychological shelter. 28 See guidelines on housing and discrimination in E/CN.4/2002/59.