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Woman living and working in her community, currently under threat with forced eviction, Cambodia
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Women and Forced Evictions
Exposing the gender dimensions of a global crisis
“Women bear the brunt of forced evictions, especially when evictions are accompanied by violence.”
Miloon Kothari
former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
The affects of forced evictions are devastating for women. It is most often women who are charged with taking care of the children and family before, during and after an eviction, and for providing a sense of stability at home. In cases where a woman is the sole economic provider for her household, forced eviction can also result in utter destitution for herself and her children. Discriminatory norms, customary laws, cultural practices, domestic violence, and economic obstacles all contribute to women’s susceptibility to forced evictions. Women are prone to forced evictions as a result of the gender-based bias they experience. For instance, women who are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus are susceptible to forced eviction. Women who reside with their in-law families may also face eviction once they divorce their spouse, when their spouse dies or because of domestic violence.
Forced evictions almost invariably reinforce inequities by affecting those already living in extreme poverty and vulnerable groups including women, children and minorities. Particularly vulnerable groups of women include domestic workers, commercial sex workers, migrant workers, women living with HIV/AIDS, widows, victims of domestic violence and divorced women. Because women bear primary responsibility for caring for their families, the loss that accompanies forced evictions therefore increases the demands on women’s time and also limits their options and resources. Women may also suffer additional violence in the home in the context of strained living conditions and psychological impact of eviction on family members, which may often aggravate problems of substance abuse and social isolation.
On a global scale, forced evictions aggravate the worldwide homeless and housing crisis. Forced evictions include urban slum clearances, displacement during armed conflict and evictions during large-scale development projects. Forced evictions result in displacement, loss of homes, livelihood, property and belongings, but also lead to loss of relationships and support systems, and physical and psychological injury for those evicted. Their impact on women is profound, and the devastation of forced evictions is felt globally. While forced evictions are a phenomenon which affects woman as well as men, it is important to highlight the unique ways in which forced evictions combine with gender inequality to produce specific crises for women. Forced evictions are often accompanied by violence, sometimes specifically targeting women (including gender-based and other forms of bias, such as race and class-based discrimination). In addition, women’s position within and outside the family becomes more precarious as eviction places additional strain on situations that are often difficult from the onset. The loss of support systems impacts women’s ability to care for children and other dependent family members, which also affects their ability to find work and attend to daily chores.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights identified women as one of several deprived groups deserving of assistance pertaining to forced evictions, noting that: “Women ... suffer disproportionately from the practice of forced evictions. Women in all groups are especially vulnerable given the extent to statutory and other forms of discrimination which often apply in relation to property rights (including home ownership) or rights of access to property or accommodation” and women’s heightened risk of violence and sexual abuse when they are rendered homeless.”
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