Date: 22 October 2010 Doc code: TOP.WH.101022
GUIDELINES ON GENDER-SENSITIVE APPROACHES AND ALTERNATIVES TO EVICTION Preamble Recognizing that today, forced evictions represent a human rights violation of endemic proportion; Recognizing that while a State’s duty to abstain from and shield its citizens against the practice of forced eviction is an obligation clearly articulated within numerous international human rights standards, forced evictions continue to devastate the lives of women, men and children around the world; Noting that forced evictions are not a gender-neutral phenomenon; Mindful that forced evictions combine with gender inequality to produce specific negative consequences for women, including increased exposure to gender-based violence such as acts of physical and sexual abuse and harassment against women and girls; Gravely concerned that in the midst of the violence and chaos that often accompanies forced evictions, private actors and State security forces, including the police, often perpetrate acts of physical and sexual abuse and harassment against women and girls, and that women also often suffer additional violence in the home, as forced evictions further increase already strained living conditions and increase women’s social isolation; Underscoring that a woman’s position within and outside of her family often becomes more precarious within the context of forced eviction, as forced evictions too often entail the loss of personal support systems that help to sustain women in their day to day life; Recognizing that, in almost all cases, it is women who are most often charged with taking care of children and other dependent family members before, during and after an eviction, and for providing a sense of stability at home and that forced evictions make women’s burdens untenable and impact on their ability to care for children and other dependent family members, a situation that in turn affects their ability to secure a livelihood and attend to daily chores; Mindful that discriminatory norms, customary laws, and cultural practices; domestic violence; and economic obstacles all contribute to women’s susceptibility to forced evictions and that women who reside with their spouse’s family may also face forced eviction if they divorce their spouse, if their spouse dies, or because of domestic violence. Recalling that the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has identified women as a group suffering “disproportionately from the practice of forced 1
evictions”, including due to discriminatory practices in relation to housing, land and property rights and women’s heightened risk of violence and sexual abuse when they are rendered homeless; Recognising that women are often excluded from, or marginalised within, decision making processes which would enable them to effectively participate in consultations related to evictions or other related matters affecting themselves and their communities; Recognizing also that women are too often unaware of their right to adequate housing under international human rights law, including their right to security of tenure and the prohibition of forced eviction, and that such lack of rights awareness makes it more difficult for women to champion, claim and enforced their rights; Recognizing further that in many countries, women are discriminated against in ownership and provision of legal title to housing, land and property, or may otherwise lack security of tenure due to gender discriminatory traditional, cultural or customary laws or practices; Calls upon all States to formulate and conduct their policies and practices with regard to evictions in compliance with their human rights obligations, with particular attention to the rights of women as outlines in the Guidelines herein; I. Scope and nature 1.1 The Guidelines on gender-sensitive approaches and alternatives to forced evictions articulated herein are designed to assist all relevant actors – national and international – to address the legal and social implications of forced evictions as they relate to women. 1.2 The Guidelines aim to clarify what States are legally obliged to do under international human rights standards to protect women from forced eviction and ensure that any evictions, where justifiable, do not have a disproportionately negative impact for women. 1.3 The Guidelines incorporate many of the standards and principles enshrined in previous international human rights instruments dealing with forced eviction and displacement, including in particular the Basic Principles and Guidelines on DevelopmentBased Evictions and Displacement; General Comment No. 4 on the Right to Adequate Housing and General Comment No 7. on the Prohibition of Forced Evictions adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and the UN Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons. II. General obligations 2.1 The arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of women’s housing, land and/or property, when the result of domestic violence, ‘disinheritance,’ or the application of gender-biased norms, policies or practices that detrimentally affect women, is considered to be a forced eviction and within the scope of a State’s obligation to provide protection to all from such evictions. 2.2 States shall ensure that all applicable laws and policies used to effect eviction are gender-sensitive, taking into account the special circumstances of women and benefiting women equally.
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2.3 States shall ensure that ostensibly ‘gender-neutral’ housing, land and property policies and practices do not disadvantage women or girls, and shall replace such policies with gender-sensitive policies and positive measures aimed at ensuring women’s housing rights and substantive gender equality. 2.4 States shall recognise the joint ownership rights of women, and ensure that housing, land and property policies and practices reflect a gender-sensitive approach. 2.5 States shall abolish the notion of ‘head-of-household’ as a legal and administrative concept, as its gender-biased application may deny women security of tenure and lead to the dispossession of their property. III. Pursuing gender-sensitive alternatives to eviction 3.1 States shall ensure that prior to eviction they explore all feasible alternatives to eviction with genuine and meaningful participation of affected women. 3.2 States shall strive to upgrade housing and communities in lieu of their demolition wherever possible. Upgrading shall take into account the specific needs and demands of women, with particular attention to the situation of single women, households headed by single women or girls, women living with HIV, women with disabilities, elderly women, women with small children, and expectant mothers. All upgrading plans shall be devised with the genuine participation of affected women. IV. Obligations regarding consultation with affected women 4.1 States shall ensure genuine consultation with affected communities prior to eviction. During consultations, States shall take steps to ensure that women meaningfully participate in these consultations, both on issues specific to women, as well as on issues pertaining to the community as a whole. 4.2 Prior to consultation, States shall provide affected women with full information on all issues concerning evictions including but not limited to project plans, alternatives explored, manner of eviction, plans for compensation and rehabilitation, and their human rights both in the domestic legal framework as well as under international law. This information shall be provided in the local language and in a form and manner that is accessible to all affected women including those belonging to ethnic and linguistic minorities. 4.3 States shall make every effort to disseminate relevant information to women who are unable to acquire such information because of cultural or religious restrictions, such as utilising female personnel to communicate information directly to women affected by eviction. 4.4 During consultation, States shall request women to identify their specific needs, and shall seek input from particularly vulnerable groups of women including domestic workers, commercial sex workers, migrant workers, women living with HIV/AIDS, widows, victims of domestic violence, divorced women, single women, households headed by single women or girls, women living with HIV, women with disabilities, elderly women, women with small children, and expectant mothers. 4.5 States shall schedule consultations at appropriate times and locations to ensure women’s ability and availability to attend meetings, taking into account women’s family 3
roles and responsibilities and local restrictions on women’s mobility. Where women are unable to attend meetings, State representatives shall go directly to the affected communities to consult with women. 4.6 States shall schedule opportunities for women to be consulted separately from men, so as to encourage women to candidly express their views and concerns without being compelled to subordinate their experiences to those of their male counterparts or those of the larger community. States should use female facilitators during such meetings wherever possible to encourage free expression. V. Preventing violence against women in the context of eviction 5.1 States shall provide proper training to all personnel involved in carrying out evictions on respectful treatment of women during eviction, and shall communicate and enforce a zero-tolerance policy on harassment and violence, including gender-based harassment and violence, during eviction. Perpetrators of violence against women shall be prosecuted and brought to justice. 5.2 States shall ensure that prior to the eviction, authorities do not resort to intimidation tactics, including by harassing or threatening women with violence to induce them to abandon their homes and property or agree to plans that are unfavourable to them. States and their representatives also have a duty to take steps to guarantee that proposed eviction plans do not increase women’s and girls’ exposure to harassment or violence within their communities and homes. 5.3 States shall provide accessible information through various media (for example, through the dissemination of written brochures, radio public service announcements, etc.) to women prior to eviction on domestic violence, as well as similarly accessible information on legal and other resources available to women experiencing domestic violence after eviction. Such legal and other resources shall be made available to women within their new communities, particularly in the period immediately following eviction when family tensions may rise and rates of domestic violence may increase. 5.4 All persons carrying out the eviction shall be properly identified. Female personnel and female government officials should be present during the eviction. 5.5 Independent legal officials shall be available during eviction so that affected women are able to lodge grievances about abuses experienced or witnessed during eviction. Affected women shall be informed ahead of time that these legal officials will be present and available to them on the day(s) of eviction. 5.6 States shall provide legal aid and counselling services for women who have been subjected to harassment and violence as a result of eviction, or in the aftermath of eviction. VI. Ensuring adequate and gender-sensitive rehabilitation, relocation, resettlement and compensation 6.1 In cases where evictions have been otherwise deemed lawful and in compliance with the present Guidelines, States shall include affected women in the planning, development, implementation and monitoring of relocation, rehabilitation and/or compensation schemes, so that women’s concerns can be integrated at all stages, and so that women are able to benefit on an equitable basis from said schemes. States shall further 4
ensure that affected women are likewise provided with full information on the planned relocation, rehabilitation and/or compensation package being provided. 6.2 In relocation and allocation of alternative housing, States shall take positive measures to ensure compliance with international standards related to the right to adequate housing. States shall also prioritise in these efforts meeting the needs of single women, households headed by single women or girls, women living with HIV, women with disabilities, elderly women, women with small children, and expectant mothers. 6.3 While providing the documentation to relocate, States shall ensure that housing and/or land titles, leases or other similar instruments are extended to women in a nondiscriminatory fashion and on the basis of equality. Where resettlement housing and/or land is allocated to a family, the names of both/all spouses shall be included in the title, lease or other similar instrument to the housing, land and/or property. 6.4 States shall ensure that rehabilitation for women is equitable and adequate, and that it provides for adequate permanent housing as well as comprehensive livelihood restoration. 6.5 States shall ensure that compensation for women is equitable and adequate. States shall also ensure that unmarried women, divorced women and widows are also able to access compensation for lost housing, land and property. In addition to compensation for real or personal property or other possessions, States shall ensure that women are reimbursed for the fair value of their business and related items lost or destroyed during eviction, lost or diminished remuneration, money spent to recover or move damaged property or possessions, and other damages incurred. VII. Ensuring provision for women’s social needs 7.1 Due to the disproportionate impact of the disintegration of societal networks on women, during relocation and resettlement, States shall ensure that women who wish to reside close to their family and in a location that would permit them to maintain their social ties and support networks are enabled to do so. 7.2 States shall ensure the continuity of women’s social ties and networks by facilitating and encouraging women to establish community groups that can help women to deal with the stresses and hardships caused by eviction. 7.3 States shall provide counselling for women affected by evictions in order to enable them to restart their lives and livelihoods at the resettlement site. Particular attention will be paid to the income generation needs of women, as well as the educational needs of girls. VIII. Ensuring the continuity of girls’ education 8.1 States shall ensure that alternative housing is located in close proximity to schools so that, inter alia, girls may continue their education without threats to their security. 8.2 To ensure that all girls are able to begin or resume their education after eviction, States shall ensure that primary education is free and accessible for all children. States shall make financial support available to families in need with school age children for registering their children at new schools; transportation to and from school; and/or replacing books, school supplies and uniforms. 5
IX. Ensuring women’s livelihood and security 9.1 States shall ensure that women who have been evicted are able to retain or develop their financial autonomy, so that they are not forced into a situation of dependency that threatens their security. 9.2 State shall provide livelihood opportunities to evicted women, including microcredits and skills-training support, to ensure that women and their families can enjoy an adequate standard of living. Information about such livelihood opportunities shall be effectively communicated to all potential beneficiaries, including widows and women who are their family’s main source of financial support. 9.3 State authorities shall provide reduced cost or free public transport to and from the city economic centres and the relocation sites, so that evicted women are able to maintain their former employment at their new homes. 9.4 States shall inform women of available opportunities to either obtain reparation or credit to re-establish women’s home-based businesses that may have been harmed as a result of eviction. X. Provision of legal remedies to women affected by eviction 10.1 States shall ensure that evicted women and women facing eviction are able to effectively and independently access: (a) a fair hearing before a competent, impartial and independent court or tribunal; (b) legal counsel, and where necessary, sufficient legal aid; and (c) effective legal remedies. Such legal aid/remedies shall be made fully accessible to women, including economically, geographically and linguistically accessible. 10.2 States shall establish a complaint mechanism to enable evicted women and women facing eviction to lodge complaints independently regarding housing rights violations, and shall provide women with adequate information regarding available legal remedies. 10.3 States shall establish a complaint mechanism to enable evicted women and women facing eviction to lodge complaints independently regarding gender-based violence, including domestic violence, and shall provide women with adequate information regarding available legal remedies. 10.4 States shall protect women from retaliation and ensure that they can obtain legal aid to help them file complaints against persons who harassed them or committed violent acts against them before, during and after the eviction process. XI. Interpretation 11.1 These Guidelines on gender-sensitive approaches and alternatives to forced evictions shall not be interpreted as limiting, altering or otherwise prejudicing the rights recognized under international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law and related standards, or rights consistent with these laws and standards as recognized under national law.
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