Talking about homeless people is also talking about institutional invisibility, structural violence and a deficient exercise of human rights. As people with insufficient support networks, they are subjected to violence and mistreatment without others interceding to stop them. What obligations do institutions have to guarantee the exercise of their rights? Let’s go by steps:
First, what are human rights?
They are the basic conditions people need to live with dignity and in a peace environment. This set of prerogatives is established within the national legal order, in our Political Constitution, international treaties and laws. And it is essential that their dignified exercise be guaranteed, especially in vulnerable populations also known as priority attention groups.
Who are the priority attention groups?
The Political Constitution of Mexico City recognizes as groups of priority attention those who are in some situation of structural inequality, who for many years have been discriminated against, excluded, and mistreated, and who even today face great obstacles to enjoying their rights and freedoms.
And what are these priority attention groups?
Since its publication in 2018, the Political Constitution of Mexico City recognizes the following as priority attention groups:
What should the authority be doing in favor of these groups?
Recognize them, listen to them, care for them and protect them.
Now, who is considered a homeless person and what are their characteristics like?
The street population is a diverse social group, made up of girls, boys, young people, women, men, families, older adults, people with disabilities and others with various health problems and addictions. (COPRED, 2017).
The street situation is multi-causal and intersectional, not just a decision
The reasons that have gotten these people to the streets are diverse. Family violence, broken family nuclei, unemployment, addictions, lack of opportunities, discrimination, among many others. We talk about social causes but also structural ones.
The Inter-institutional Protocol for Comprehensive Care for People Living on the Street in Mexico City (2020) classifies the causes of homelessness as follows:
We speak then of a complex problem that needs to be addressed from its causes, through prevention, regulation and support programs. Guaranteeing the full exercise of their rights is a joint task. Government, institutions and civil society must work so that people living on the streets have a dignified life free of violence. When one of the parties is not doing its job, it is up to Civil Society Organizations to intercede to stop the violence and discrimination of which street populations are victims.
Integrating street populations and addressing their problems is not an easy task, but we can all contribute with actions that start from a reality that is sometimes forgotten: homeless people are subjects of rights.
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