A/HRC/43/43 do not maintain, but rather alleviate, the systemic disadvantages that women experience. 52 Women must be empowered to articulate and claim the right to housing in a manner that addresses their experience of housing disadvantage in all of its dimensions. 53. Implementation measures: (a) The independent right of women to security of tenure, irrespective of their family or relationship status, should be recognized in national housing laws, policies and programmes.53 In that regard, States should amend or repeal, as appropriate, provisions in family, inheritance and other relevant laws that restrict women’s access to housing and land title. Customary law provisions that discriminate against women and contravene international human rights norms should not be recognized or applied;54 (b) Women should be guaranteed equal access to credit, mortgages, home ownership and rental housing, including through subsidies, to ensure that their lower incomes do not exclude them from housing. 55 Women’s economic activities, which often take place in the home, must be supported and protected, particularly during upgrading efforts or relocation; (c) In situations of household violence, legislation should ensure that, regardless of whether a woman has title, formal ownership or tenancy rights, she is able to remain in her own home where appropriate and have the perpetrator removed. 56 States should provide immediate access to emergency shelters and prompt access to front-line crisis services. Long-term housing programmes, including those for the allocation of permanent public or social housing, should prioritize women and families escaping violence; 57 (d) Women should have a guaranteed right to participate in all aspects of housing-related policymaking, including housing design and construction, community development and planning, and transportation and infrastructure. This applies as well to women living in informal housing or in camps. Guideline No. 10. Ensure the right to adequate housing for migrants and internally displaced persons58 54. In recent years migrants have become particularly vulnerable to violations of the right to housing. Migrants in transit have been compelled to live in very precarious conditions, such as in informal camps, in forests, fields, abandoned houses, train stations or other public spaces, with no sanitary facilities, limited access to safe food and water sources, and often exposed to forced evictions. Once settled, migrants often live in grossly inadequate housing conditions in geographically segregated areas with poor access to 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 S.C. and G.P. v. Italy (E/C.12/65/D/22/2017), para. 8.2. See the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ general comment No. 16 (2005) on the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights, para. 28, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, arts. 2 (f), 15 and 16, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s general recommendations No. 21 (1994) on equality in marriage and family relations, No. 29 (2013) on the economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution and No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women, the Human Rights Committee’s general comment No. 28 (2000) on the equality of rights between men and women, para. 19, and A/HRC/19/53, para. 68. See the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s general recommendations No. 21, paras. 28 and 33, and No. 34, paras. 58 and 77. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 13. Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, art. 52. See also A/HRC/19/53, para. 36, and A/HRC/35/30. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19, paras. 24 ff. See also A/HRC/35/30. The term “migrant” is used here without prejudice to the protection regimes that exist under international law for specific legal categories of non-nationals, including refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, trafficked persons and migrant workers. 13