A/HRC/19/53
destruction of property are further traumatic experiences. (…) Coping with injuries,
the death of family members, inadequate housing or even homelessness, poverty,
lack of community support when relocated away from the home town are all
possible burdens that have to be taken on by women after eviction. 38
34.
In order to ensure women‘s right to security of tenure, it is critical for States to
refrain from the practice of forced evictions, and to protect women against forced evictions
at the hands of private actors and third parties. In particular, the independent right of
women to security of tenure should be explicitly recognized in housing law, policy and
programmes, irrespective of their family or relationship status, thereby protecting women
from forced evictions, including at the hands of community and even family members.
35
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.‖39
36.
Furthermore, in order to uphold women‘s right to security of tenure within the
context of domestic violence, women who are victims of domestic violence must also be
able to enjoy security of tenure, such that they are allowed to reside in their own homes –
regardless of title or formal ownership – whereas perpetrators may be removed.
37.
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‖40 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.‖41
Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure
38.
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 gendersensitive 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.42
38
39
40
41
42
12
E/CN.4/2000/68/Add.5. On this issue see also E/CN/4/2006/118.
A/HRC/4/18. See also: UN-Habitat, ―Forced Evictions: Global Crisis, Global Solutions‖ (2011) p.
105.
UN-Habitat, ―Forced Evictions: Global Crisis, Global Solutions‖ (2011), p. 103.
Ibid., p. 108.
The original project was built on a plot of 2.3 hectares where 357 flats were built in multi-storey
blocks between 1992 and 1997 on an initiative of the Women‘s Office of the City of Vienna, based on
designs by four women architects in co-operation with one woman landscape planner.
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