Material #26: Decriminalizing poverty
A key dimension of economic, social and cultural rights
Two UN Special Rapporteurs - the rapporteur on extreme poverty and the rapporteur on adequate housing - have combined forces to publish “Breaking the cycle: Ending the criminalization of homelessness and poverty”.
The report draws on 130 submissions from around the world, and consultations with different stakeholder groups. It hones in on “policies and practices that penalize and criminalize life-sustaining activities in public spaces”, such as evictions, fines, detention and forced institutionalization, and signals new ways forward.
The two mandates are examples of “economic social and cultural rights”, which CESR within its excellent “Decoding Injustice” series defines as follows:
“Economic, social and cultural rights are human rights that guarantee us the material conditions we need to live a life of dignity — where all of us can achieve wellbeing and realize our potential.”
The report recognizes that as a starting point, homelessness is a reflection of a failure to realize the right to adequate housing. It elaborates on the ways in which criminalization of poverty and homeless intersect with other rights, including non-discrimination. And it sets out pathways forward, including reviews and reforms of existing laws, enforcement reforms, and “housing first” strategies.
While the focus is public spaces, the report acknowledges the often blurry boundary between public and private space:
“Public spaces have increasingly become semi-public or private, particularly railway stations, public transport, shopping malls, or privately-owned parks and squares.”
“Breaking the cycle” spotlights one important dimension of the many ways that the built environment - its physical structure, and the structures that construct and maintain it - is instrumental to the realization of human rights.
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Through 2024, It’s Material is sharing one use of the word “material” each week, on Tuesdays.
Related:
“Dignity by Design: Human Rights and the Built Environment Lifecycle”, particularly pages 39-43 on the right to housing, social inclusion, and public space
The “Decoding Injustice Tools Hub” from Center for Economic and Cultural Rights, which is designed around a three-step framework of “Interrogate, Illuminate and Inspire”