Across the world, poverty and homelessness are increasingly being criminalized. This has implications for whole societies not just the poor and the homeless and it requires a critical reappraisal of policing, public health and governmental policy responses.
In June last year the UN Special Rapporteurs for Homelessness and Poverty produced their report to the UN General Assembly. ‘Breaking the cycle: ending the criminalization of homelessness and poverty’. (1) I attended the consultation event on behalf of GLEPHA and my evidence to the meeting was subsequently submitted to the enquiry team. (2)
The Special Rapporteurs explain why the criminalization of homelessness and poverty is not a solution. Criminalization violates human rights; and evictions, fines and detention cause further erosions of such human rights that remain. (3) Criminalization perpetuates historical legacies of discrimination and exclusion, many of these derived from colonial laws stretching back hundreds of years and reflecting the vilification of vagrancy, loitering and begging. (4) Criminalization entrenches discrimination and stigmatization. (5,6) For the public purse, criminalization is an unsuitable, inefficient and costly approach to addressing social issues. (7) It is not a rational or proportionate response to enhancing public order and safety (5-7,8).
The Special Rapporteurs set out an agenda for change and alternatives to criminalization. They call for:
- the Repeal of laws that criminalize life-sustaining activities.
- Improved judicial review, access to justice and legal aid
- Alternatives to detention
- The end of incarceration for failure to pay a fine
- The reform of law enforcement approaches
- Promoting equal access to public spaces
- Housing first, not last
- Prevention of Homelessness
- Reform of the regulation of informal economic activities
- And enhancing the role of regional and local governments
Read the full commentary at the The Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA) website: https://glepha.com/is-it-a-crime-to-be-poor/