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Why Focus on Women?
Close to one third of the world’s women are homeless or live in inadequate
housing and in many countries, a majority of homeless women have escaped from
domestic violence. In France alone, six women die every month as a result of
domestic violence, while in the US, an estimated 60 per cent of homeless women
are escaping domestic violence.
Women in Africa and south Asia, especially, are systematically denied the right
to own or inherit land, housing and property. They can only access land and
housing through male relatives and their security of tenure is dependent on
good marital and family relations.
According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, “In almost
all countries, whether ‘developed’ or ‘developing’,
legal security of tenure for women is almost entirely dependent on the men they
are associated with. Women headed households and women in general are far less
secure than men. Very few women own land. A separated or divorced woman with
no land and a family to care for often ends up in an urban slum, where her security
of tenure is at best questionable”.
“Securing tenure for the household does not necessarily secure tenure for
women and children. The extension of secure tenure must benefit women and men
equally, which will require some fundamental changes to the rights of women.”
Global Campaign for Secure Tenure, Implementing the Habitat Agenda.
Without implementation of their equal rights to adequate housing, land and
property, women cannot enjoy other fundamental human rights such as:
- the right to privacy
- the right to the highest attainable standard of health
- the right to food
- the right to water
- the right to protection of the law against interference or attacks against
one's privacy,
- family and home
- equal rights before, during and upon dissolution of a marriage
- the right to security of person
- the right to equal protection before the law, and
- the right to self-determination.
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