Author Name:   Nalini R

100 million people in the world today are said to be living with no shelter at all. One-fifth and one quarter of the world’s population lives in absolute poverty, Various housing rights available to women under human rights...

 A Conceptual Study on the Women and Housing Rights in Human Rights

100 million people in the world today are said to be living with no shelter at all. One-fifth and one quarter of the world’s population lives in absolute poverty. These numbers are increasing rapidly both in the developing nations as well as the first world countries. In a fast growing world economy the pace and form of development has actually accelerated world poverty. Environmental degradation, depletion of natural resources, political and social unrest add to the sufferings of human beings, especially the poor and the marginalised. And this is a situation almost 53 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, clearly stated in its Article 25 (1) that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”.

Those who have had to bear the brunt of global deprivation and denial of human rights the most and at all times are women. 70 percent of the world’s population living in absolute poverty are women.

Women do not comprise a homogeneous group. However, it is possible to talk about their shared and common experiences because, although the extent may differ, irrespective of class, race, ability and age they are universally discriminated against and experience inequality in all spheres, especially in situations involving a question of rights such as their right to adequate housing.

Lack of access to and control over land, housing and property constitutes a violation of human rights and contributes significantly to women’s increasing poverty. To put it differntly, access and control together lay the foundation for women's empowerment and international human rights instruments have time and again reiterated their commitment to women's empowerment by binding the State Parties to ensure women their basic right to life, survival and livelihood. Special emphasis has been laid on women's right to adequate housing.

Right to Housing
Housing is now recognised as a fundamental human right of all human beings in many international human rights instruments. The most significant instrument on right to housing is Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). According to it, “The State Parties to the present Covenant recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing and to the continuous improvement of living conditions”

A comprehensive understanding of the right to housing has been established over the years through several efforts made both within and outside the UN mechanisms towards interpreting and substantiating the legal concept of housing.

In December 1991, the UN Committe on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted its General Comment No. 4 on the right to housing, sressing on its adequacy. This is the first General Comment adopted on a specific right contained in the Covenant and indicates the importance given to the right by the Committee. The Committee guides State Parties not to interpret the right to housing narrowly or restrictively as “merely having a roof over one’s head or…as a commodity. Rather it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity” (para. 7). It reflects both the holistic conception of the right and the value it gains from the aspect of adequacy.

Based on this broad interpretation, the General Comment identified seven aspects of the right to housing that determine “adequacy”: (a) legal security of tenure including legal protection against forced evictions; (b) availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; (c) affordability; (d) habitability; (e) accessibility for disadvantaged groups; (f) location and (g) cultural adequacy (para. 8). At the international level this is the single most authoritative legal interpretation of the right to housing.

In its General Comment No. 14 “The Committee interprets the right to health, as defined in Article 12(1), as an inclusive right extending not only to timely and appropriate health care, but also to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition and housing, healthy occupational and environmental conditions.......” (para 11). Detailing the core obligations arising from State obligations on the right to health, the Committee determined that these include ensuring access to basic shelter, housing and sanitation and an adequate supply of safe and potable water (para 43).

In his report as the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Mr. Miloon Kothari states that based on the legal basis of the right to housing and on the considerable civil society activity, both at conceptual and a practical level, he would like to propose the following working definition for the right to adequate housing - “The human right to adequate housing is the right of every woman, man, youth and child to gain and sustain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity”.

Mr. Kothari aptly puts it in his background paper for a seminar on appropriate indicators to measure achievements in the progressive realisation of economic, social and cultural rights - “It can be argued, in fact, that the right to housing has the potential to unify the various rights (the related fields that comprise life in security, peace and dignity) revolving around the struggle for a place to live, and that the attainment of other rights becomes that much more possible once the right to a secure place to live has been gained”.

Right to housing has been been recognised both generally and specifically for different groups of people, given their vulnerability on account of their social, physical or mental condition. For instance, General Comment No. 5 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (eleventh session 1994) elaborates on the housing rights of persons with disability(ies). General Comment No. 6 (thirteenth session, 1995) emphasises “... that housing for the elderly must be viewed as more than mere shelter and that, in addition to the physical, it has psychological and social significance which should be taken into account”. Other international conventions like the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 1965, the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) 1979, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1990, deal with recognition and protection of housing rights of ethnic minorities and people of different nationalities, origin, race and colour without discrimination, housing rights of women and of children respectively.

What Do We Mean by Women’s Right to Adequate Housing?
Women's right to housing needs to be understood in terms of their entitlements. "This means they have rights in, access to and control over land, housing and property. 'Legal rights in land, housing and property' broadly refers to security of tenure, that is right to own, lease, rent, mortgage or dwell on land, housing and property, and the right not to be forcibly evicted. 'Access to land, housing and property' means that a person can use the land (eg. for cultivation), property or housing, but that they do not necessarily have legal rights to do so. This can be through informal concessions granted by individuals to kin or friends. …Control over land, housing and property can have multiple meanings, such as the ability to decide how the land and housing resources are used and disposed of, and whether it can be leased out, mortgaged, bequeathed, sold etc. Legal ownership does not necessarily carry with it the right to control. For example in some regions a married woman requires her husband's consent to alienate land which she legally owns".

While a section of feminists stresses on women's housing rights to be understood in terms of an 'independent right' i.e. rights independent of male ownership and control (excluding joint titles with men), the housing rights campaigns emphasise on equal right of both men and women and therefore support and promote joint-ownership, given the hardships that women face at the time of dislocation and relocation.

What Leads to Violation and/or Denial of Right to Adequate Housing, Particularly in the Case of Women?

There are many social, economic and political situations that render people insecure, homeless and without a sustainable source of livelihood. To reiterate, women are particularly ulnerable given the low socioeconomic status accorded to them.

Following is a list of some such situations that result in denial or violation of right to adequate housing:
· Intrahousehold and familial disputes leading to breakdown of personal relationships recognised in law and by the society.

· Forced Eviction by the authorities

· Displacement due to development projects

· Displacement due to natural disasters

· Displacement due to civil and political wars

· Displacement due to change in tenancy laws

· Forced evictions arising out of violence from the dominant community or the ruling class

· Land reforms and land ceiling laws

· Environment protection measures taken up by the authorities that uproot people from their habitat or deprive them of access to forest produce and other natural resources on which they depend for sustenance.

While these circumstances apply to all people, in addition to them there are others that relate specifically to women. These are:
· Change in marital status - when they become widows or on divorce.
· Status of women as single women e.g. unmarried daughters.
· Old age is often insecure and troublesome for women who have to depend solely on their children or survive at the mercy of the State.
· Customs and traditions that outcast women from the social system e.g. a woman declared as a witch will be forced to leave or be thrown out of family and be regarded as an outcast, thereby depriving her of her basic right to life, which includes housing.
· Customs and traditions that do not recognise women's contribution as productive.
· Absence of laws, policies and programmes that are sensitive towards women and the aged.
· Lack or absence of institutional support in times of distress and homelessness.
· Laws that deny women legal security of tenure.
· Lack of gender-sensitive laws and policies on rehabilitation and resettlement.
· Credit facilities that discriminate against women.

In a predominantly male dominated society that makes up this world, women have always been discriminated against. The gender-biases are deep rooted and are reflected in women’s lack of access to and control over land, housing and property in particular.

In the urban situation, women living in the slums survive in deplorable conditions, without proper shelter, adequate water, health, sanitation and hygiene. The position of women who are pavement dwellers is worse. These women continuously face the threat of forced eviction in the name of urbanization and development.

In any case, environmental degradation, depletion of natural resources and the drive to protect environment has added to the burden of women. This has a direct impact on the lives of the women as they are the ones who manage the homes and are responsible for the basic needs of the family. In an urban setting too this burden falls on women. Walking longer distances, spending more time and money on accessing water, fuel wood, etc. are some of the inevitable fallouts.

Several international commitments have recognised the need to ensure women their right to adequate housing and its significance in enhancing women’s position and empowering them.

Women’s Right to Adequate Housing – Some Important International Commitments
Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR, 1948.)
In 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted by a resolution the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although not legally binding on States, it contains important provisions related to women’s right to housing. Women have the right to be free from discrimination with respect to all of the rights found in the UDHR. (Article 2); Men and women are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution (Article 16); Everyone, irrespective of gender, has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others and that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property (Article 17 (1) and (2)); Everyone has the right to adequate standard of living including housing and right to security in the event of lack of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood (Article 25 (1)).

Article 17 and 25 of UDHR clearly establish everyone’s right to land, housing and property. Reading them in conjunction with Article 2 and 16 establish the basic principle that women have the right to be free from discrimination with respect to right to land, housing and property both during marriage and upon its dissolution.

Declarations and recommendations are generally documents of intent, and in most cases do not create legally binding obligations on the countries that have signed them. In some instances, a declaration and/or recommendation may gain the force of binding law if its contents are widely accepted by the international community. It then achieves the status of customary international law. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948 is an example of a Declaration, parts of which have gained the force of binding law.

Many of the provisions contained in the UDHR relating to women’s right to land, housing and property have been codified by the UN treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966.
Article 17 (1) of the ICCPR prohibits arbitrary and unlawful interference any person’s privacy, family and home and Article 17 (2) provides for legal protection from such interference. Article 26 is the anti-discrimination provision, protecting women from being discriminated in any matter. It clearly lays down that everyone is entitled to the equal protection of the law, without discrimination on any ground, including sex.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1966
Article 3 obliges the States Parties to “undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the present Covenant”.

Article 11(1) lays down the right to adequate housing as "the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions".

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the treaty body that monitors the implementation of this Covenant, in its General Comment No. 4 of of 1991 explains that the right to adequate housing consists of the following elements: (a) legal security of tenure; (b) availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; (c) affordability; (d) habitability; (e) accessibility; (f) location; and (g) cultural adequacy.

To sum up, under Article 3, women are guaranteed equal right to enjoyment of all the rights enshrined in the ICESCR and Article 11 (1) specifies right to adequate standard of living, including adequate housing for all. General Comment No. 4 to Article 11 (1) clearly interprets housing to include right in land and property and access to and control over sources of livelihood and basic civic amenities.

Article 3 and Article 11(1) of ICESCR and General Comment No. 4 to Article 11(1) together provide the legal framework relating to women’s right to housing and land.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 1979
Article 1 of CEDAW defines discrimination against women as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”.

Article 2(f) of this Convention specifically requires that States Parties condemn discrimination against women and agree to undertake “all appropriate measure, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices, which constitute discrimination against women”.

Article 3 requires States Parties to, "[by] all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men."

Under Article 5 (a), with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women, States Parties undertake to take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women.

CEDAW is the most significant and valuable treaty guaranteeing women equal rights in every sphere including housing. CEDAW's monitoring body, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, has issued several recommendations to this effect.

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Commenting on Article 15 of CEDAW, in its General Recommendation No. 21, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women states, “When a woman cannot enter into a contract at all, or have access to financial credit, or can do so only with her husband’s or a male relative’s concurrence or guarantee, she is denied legal autonomy. Any such restriction prevents her from holding property as the sole owner … Such restrictions seriously limit the woman’s ability to provide for herself and her dependents” (para 7).

The Committee encourages the States Parties to give full attention to the needs of rural women and to ensure an active and participatory role in the design, implementation and monitoring of all policies and programs that are intended to benefit them, particularly women who are heads of households and their families, including in areas such as access to health and social services, income-generation projects and housing.

Some other Conventions that do not specifically apply to women but have a bearing on certain categories of women and their right to adequate housing are:

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
It recognizes and protects housing rights of persons, including women, belonging to marginalized, racial and ethnic groups. Article 3 of the Convention contains an obligation for the States Parties to “particularly condemn racial segregation and apartheid and undertake to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction”. Article 5 (e) (iii) of this Convention contains the provision on right to housing.

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951
The Convention calls upon States to accord to a refugee treatment as favourable as possible in matters such as acquisition of movable and immovable property and other rights pertaining thereto, and to leases and other contracts relating to movable and immovable property (Article 13); housing (Article 21); and public education (Article 22) and, to accord same treatment to them as given to the nationals in matters of rationing’public distribution of essential commodities (Article 20) and elementary education (Article 22). It also commits States to accord refugees in their territory the right to engage in wage-earning employment (Article 17); right to engage on his own account in agriculture, industry, handicrafts and commerce and to establish commercial and industrial companies (Article 18).

Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1954
This Convention protects te rights of persons who are not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law. It follows the pattern of the 1951 Convention relating to Status of Refugees and contains similar provisions as contained therein in addition to some others.

The Convention calls upon States to accord to a refugee treatment as favourable as possible in matters such as acquisition of movable and immovable property and other rights pertaining thereto, and to leases and other contracts relating to movable and immovable property (Article 13); housing (Article 21); and public education (Article 22) and, to accord same treatment to them as given to the nationals in matters of rationing’public distribution of essential commodities (Article 20) and elementary education (Article 22). It also commits States to accord refugees in their territory the right to engage in wage-earning employment (Article 17); right to engage on his own account in agriculture, industry, handicrafts and commerce and to establish commercial and industrial companies (Article 18).

Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action , 1993
Commitment to the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) and other instruments relating to human rights was reaffirmed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 1993. The Declaration and Programme of Action also explicitly recognize that human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of human rights.

The Beijing Platform for Action
Emerging from the Fourth Women’s World Conference held in Beijing in 1995, this Platform for Action (PFA) in its Supra note 14 recognises the importance of land, housing and property to women’s livelihood and draws the important link between women’s poverty and homelessness, inadequate housing, and lack of access to economic resources such as credit, land ownership and inheritance (paras 47, 51 and 156).

The PFA commits governments to -
§ enable women to obtain affordable housing and access to land by removing all obstacles to access (para57(m));

§ undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property (paras 256 (k) and 61 (b));

§ eliminate the injustice and obstacles in relation to inheritance faced by the girl child by enacting and enforcing legislation that guarantees equal right to succession and ensures equal right to inherit (para 274 (d)); and

§ enhance at the national and local levels, rural women’s income genrating potential by facilitating their equal access to and control over productive resources, land, credit, capital and property rights (para 166 (c)).

The PFA reaffirms that all human rights are universal, interdependent and interrelated and that women's human rights are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights (para 213).

Actions to be taken at the national and international levels, by Governments, regional and international organizations, including the UN system, and international financial institutions and other actors, include:
§ “take steps with a view to the avoidance of and refrain from any unilateral measure at variance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that (……) creates obstacles to the full enjoyment of women's and children's human rights, including the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their health and well being (……) (para 90);

§ adopt measures to ensure that the work of rural women (……)is recognized and valued in order to enhance their economic security, their access to and control over resources and credit schemes, services and benefits, and their empowerment (para 94 (e));

§ improve knowledge and awareness of the remedies available for violations of women's human rights (para 98 (a));

§ intensify efforts to implement poverty eradication programmes and evaluate, with the participation of women, the extent to which these programmes have an impact on the empowerment of women living in poverty, in terms of access to (……) inheritance and access to and control over land, housing, income, micro-credit and other financial instruments and services, and introduce improvements to such programmes in the light of the above assessment” (para 101 (d)).

The actions and initiatives listed out are indeed quite detailed and if implemented properly, can bring about a substantial change in women’s status and also empower them by ensuring the right to adequate housing and the right to non-discrimination in all matters.

Habitat II Agenda
At the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in 1996 The Habitat Agenda was adopted. Chapter II of the Habitat Agenda stipulates that equitable human settlements are those in which all people without discrimination have equal access to housing, and which provides equal right to inheritance, ownership of land and other property and credit. The Agenda also notes that women's empowerment is fundamental to sustainable human settlements and development (para 27).

In Chapter III, "Adequate Shelter For All" and "Gender Equality" are two of the seven Commitments laid down in the Agenda. Commitment A (Adequate Shelter For All), commits States to "providing legal security of tenure and equal access to land to all people, including women and those living in poverty; and undertaking legislative and administrative reforms to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technology" (para 40 (b)).

UN Millennium Declaration, 2000
The UN Millennium Declaration resolves to fully respect and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It also adds several other objectives. One of the fundamental values considered essential to international relations that is listed in para 6 is equality - "The equal rights and opportunities of women and men must be assured." Under para 19, the Member States resolve to promote gender equality and empowerment of women.

Conclusion
These Resolutions all reaffirm the equal rights of women and men and recognise that adequate remedies to deal with discrimination against women may require different treatment of women, based on a consideration of women's specific socio-economic context. Various UN bodies and organizations are requested to fully incorporate women's land, property and housing rights in their work, and the World Bank, IMF, WTO and OECD are called upon to take the human rights implications for women fully into account in their policies. Each Resolution reaffirms the substance and validity of and often further strengthens the previous Resolutions.
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*Assistant Professor in law, Karnataka State Law University, Hubli.
[1] It is now clearly established that the male-specific language of international human rights instruments is inclusive of women.
# General Comment No. 4 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) on the right to adequate housing (Sixth Session. Document No. E/1992/23).
# General Comment No. 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) on the right to highest attainable standard of health (Twenty-second Session. E/C.12/2000/4).
# Kothari, Miloon. Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2000/9. Commission on Human Rights. (Fifty-seventh Session. E/CN.4/2001/51).
# Kothari, Miloon. The Human Right to Adequate Housing: Towards Ideal indicators and Realistic World Views. Geneva. 25-29 January, 1993.
# UNCHS (Habitat). Women’s Right to Land, Housing and Property in Post-conflict Situations and During Reconstruction: A Global Overview. Nairobi. 1999. pp 3-4.
# Agarwal, Bina. A Field Of One’s Own – Gender and Land Rights in South Asia. 1994. pp. 20.
# Benschop, Marjolein. “Women's Land And Housing Rights In East Africa” Draft Report. Gender Policy Unit. UNCHS (Habitat) (Nairobi: UNCHS, May 2001), p. 9.
# Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted on 18/12/1979, General Assembly Resolution 34/180, U.N. G.A.O.R., 34th Session, Supp. No. 46, U.N. Doc. A/34/36 (1980), entered into force 3/9/1981. At present, the number of States parties is 168.
# Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. General Recommendation No. 21. 13th Session, 1994.
# United Nations Publication. Sales No. E.96.IV.13. Chap. 1. Resolution 1. Annexure II. “Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995.”
# The paragraph in PFA which calls for equal rights to succession and inheritance is subject to reservations from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritius and Tunisia as they stipulated that this paragraph will have to be interpreted in the context of respect for laws of inheritance in the Islamic Shari`a.
# “Report of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), Istanbul 3-14 June 1996,” Habitat Agenda, U.N. Doc. A./CONF.165/14 (7 August 1996).
# General Assembly Resolution A/RES/55/2, adopted at the Millennium Summit of 8 September 2000.

The  author can be reached at: nalirupa@legalserviceindia.com

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