A/HRC/43/43 institutions. 47 States must also fully comply with relevant domestic treaties and agreements concluded with indigenous peoples;48 (iii) States must recognize that the right to adequate housing has a particular meaning for persons with disabilities and that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities imposes distinct obligations on them, such as the rights to reasonable accommodation, living independently and being included in the community. The disproportionate number of persons with disabilities living in homelessness constitutes a violation of the substantive right to equality and must be addressed as such; (iv) States must recognize that housing systems are often based on and reinforce racial segregation and inequality. As guaranteed in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the right to equality should be interpreted substantively to include the equal enjoyment of the right to adequate housing without discrimination on grounds of race, colour or national or ethnic origin and requires positive measures to address ongoing legacies of colonization, apartheid, occupation and racism;49 (v) States must recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons as belonging to groups that often suffer stigmatization, discrimination and criminalization with respect to housing and experience widespread homelessness. They must be included in legal protections from discrimination in housing and protected from being forcibly evicted from their homes. Guideline No. 9. Ensure gender equality in housing and land 49. As a result of discrimination and inequality in housing, many women and girls live in insecure, undignified and unsafe conditions, at increased risk of homelessness and violence.50 Women often lack security of tenure and equal rights to land and property as a result of inheritance laws, customs and traditions that discriminate directly or indirectly against them. Their access to housing, land and property, including through access to credit, is frequently dependent on a relationship with a male family member and is often jeopardized upon the dissolution of their marriage or the death of their spouse. 50. Inadequate housing has particularly adverse impacts for women and girls. For example, harassment, physical attacks, rape and even death are not uncommon when women and girls have to walk to fetch safe drinking water or access sanitation facilities. Lack of access to latrines and to privacy affects women and girls adversely, particularly during menstruation. Evictions too have a disproportionate impact on women, who are often on the front lines defending their homes and dealing with the aftermath of eviction. 51. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of women’s homelessness. It is often the case that the woman experiencing violence, rather than the male perpetrator, must leave the home. Because women avoid living on the streets, particularly if they are caring for children, they are more likely to be found among the “hidden homeless” and denied the benefit of programmes directed at persons in more visible forms of homelessness. The lack of alternative housing options for women experiencing violence in the home places their security and lives at risk.51 52. The right to housing must be recognized as a central component of women’s right to substantive equality, which requires that laws, policies and practices be altered so that they 47 48 49 50 51 12 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, art. 23. See also A/74/183. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, art. 37. Art. 5 (e) (iii). A/HRC/19/53, para. 3. See also OHCHR, Women and the Right to Adequate Housing (New York, 2012), A/74/183, paras. 45–47, A/HRC/31/54, paras. 34 ff. and A/73/310/Rev.1, paras. 83 ff. OHCHR, Women and the Right to Adequate Housing, p. 76. See also A/71/310, para. 24, and A/HRC/35/30, para. 73.