Persuasive Essay On Homelessness And Crime

422 Words2 Pages

Homelessness is not simply a lack of private property, absence of access to housing, or living without a roof over one’s head. Experiencing homelessness is subject to a unique form of inferiority and vulnerability to the power of others. Homeless people must rely on others to temporarily benefit from the basic interests that others continually enjoy: security, privacy, and ultimately substantive equality. When we talk about people experiencing homelessness and crime, there may be a tendency to assume these individuals are the ones committing crime. Yet, what the research shows is that people who experience homelessness are at greatly increased risk of being the victims of crime, in large part because they are socially excluded and pushed into …show more content…

15 of the Canadian Charter and be considered an analogous ground because homelessness and discrimination commonly intersect. Discrimination often acts as a structural precursor to homelessness and, in turn, the experience of homelessness can lead to being discriminated against. Discrimination occurs when an individual is treated differently than another solely on the basis of some characteristic or a combination of characteristics such as race, sexual orientation, religion, physical disability, mental illness, age, citizenship status, gender, and/or socio-economic status. Discrimination significantly impacts the options and choices of individuals when it comes to all sorts of things in life such as employment, housing and access to services that all contribute to an increased risk of experiencing homelessness. Poverty is linked with inequality, particularly for women (especially single mothers and older women), Aboriginal persons, the LGBTQ community, racialized persons and persons with disabilities. We can see that groups that have experienced historical disadvantages are more likely to experience low social and economic status. A person’s socio-economic status is highly relevant to his or her housing situation. One’s socio-economic status has a direct relationship the likelihood of becoming homeless, one of the most extreme outcomes of low social and economic status. Homeless people frequently find themselves at the outermost margins of society and are highly vulnerable to ill health, spread of disease, harassment, abuse, malnutrition, dehydration, sleep deprivation and life-threatening weather. This further impairs their ability to move forward with their