transplant of her child, instead of receiving encouragement from the community, she was asked why keep pushing for the fund raising activity when at the end the baby will not survive. “What hurts us the most is not our illness, but the discrimination we experience – the way people look at and treat us.” Right to Housing International frameworks on right to housing of women with disabilities Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) encompasses persons with disabilities right to adequate housing and mandates the Philippine government to ensure appropriate measures are in place to improve living conditions of persons with disabilities and his or her family. Further, General Recommendation 4 of ICESCR highlights security of tenure, affordability, habitability, accessibility, and availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure, location and cultural adequacy as criteria to suffice adequate housing. It explicitly mentions the prioritization and consideration of the special housing needs in both housing law and policy of disadvantaged groups including persons with disabilities. General Recommendation 7 of ICESCR promotes the protection of vulnerable groups from forced eviction, and recognizes the discrimination that women are likely to experience in relation to property rights including home ownership, rights of access to property or accommodation, and their particular vulnerability to acts of violence and sexual abuse when they are rendered homeless. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) further elaborates the meaning of the adequate housing for persons with disabilities and creates a new benchmark for the realization of their right. Article 28 of the CRPD recognizes the right to adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection. In particular, this includes ensuring access by persons with disabilities to public housing programs, access to clean water services, and appropriate and affordable services, assistance from the state with disability related expenses, and access to social protection programs. National policies, programs and services Housing is one of the entitlements of every Filipino citizen guaranteed by the 1987 Philippine Constitution.4 While it does not explicitly mention persons with disabilities, it calls for urban land reform and housing with preferential option for the underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. The national government likewise has in place housing laws, policies and strategic development plans that prioritizes the needs of vulnerable 4 ARTICLE XIII: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS, Section 9 17

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