Brantford’s Women Faculty Colleague, in conjunction with the Office of Indigenous Initiatives and the Centre for Research on Security Practices, are very excited to host
Staking our Claim: Charting a Path for Realizing the Right to Housing for Women and Gender-Diverse People
On June 14th, 2022 the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network (WNHHN) and the National Indigenous Feminist Housing Working Group made history. The two organizations submitted the first human rights claims to the newly established Federal Housing Advocate, who is mandated to review systemic housing issues identified by communities and hold the Government of Canada accountable for addressing them. The claims explain why housing and homelessness is a gendered issue, and why homelessness is a national crisis for women and gender-diverse people. The claims are rooted in upholding national and international human rights obligations that assert that housing rights are human rights, and that Indigenous rights are human rights. Further, the Homeless on Homelands claim identifies how colonial policies and mechanisms have already displaced Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people from their land, community, and culture. In this lecture, Dr. Kaitlin Schwan, Executive Director of the WNHHN and Marie McGregor Pitawanakwat, Co-Chair of the National Indigenous Housing Network will provide an overview of the two claims and offer a path towards realizing the right to housing in Canada.
Staking Our Claim Poster_National_with hyperlink