‘Cultural shift needed in way we think about homelessness’
Bermuda Is Love has campaigned for and end to homelessness. Here the community action group explains why it thinks having a home is so important
Question: Why should having a home be a human right?
Answer: Recognising housing as a human right means recognising that everyone deserves to have a place to call home.
To be clear, the United Nations already recognises the right to housing under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing.”
Homelessness deprives individuals of safe and stable shelter, making it difficult for individuals to meet their basic needs such as food, clothing and hygiene. Without a place to call home, individuals are exposed to harsh weather conditions that pose health risks and safety concerns.
Homelessness is also associated with increased risk of mental and physical health problems, as it exposes people to disease, malnutrition, substance abuse and other mental health challenges owing to social isolation and loneliness.
The Royal Gazette in conjunction with stakeholders including Home, a charity helping the homeless, has launched its Ending Homelessness campaign to remind the community that the homeless matter.
Home, and others, want to end homelessness. So do we. We want your support. We want you to change your perception of the homeless. We want you to help lobby for simple changes. We want you to show compassion.
Homeless people want to work so that they may be self-sufficient. They did not choose to be homeless and in many cases their plight was brought about by systemic failings in this country.
Home has produced a report, Plan to End Homeless, which is out for consultation and points to issues and solutions to the homeless problem in Bermuda. The Plan can be seen under Related Media.
In addition to the isolation, homelessness often leads to discrimination and marginalisation from our society, which can further feelings of shame, hopelessness and low self-esteem, and have no privacy, which further isolates individuals from society.
Homelessness creates an abundance of barriers to education, employment and economic opportunities, which can further cycles of poverty. Importantly, homelessness also affects the broader community, causing a strain on social services, public resources and healthcare systems.
Guaranteeing the right to housing therefore protects against disease, hunger, danger, violence, mental and physical health issues, discrimination, inclement weather, unemployment, poverty, loneliness, marginalisation, shame and despair.
Q: How can the right to housing can be achieved?
A: First, Bermuda needs a cultural shift in the way we think about homelessness. We all must realise that a person’s dignity, wellbeing, safety and human rights are tied to ensuring that everyone has a safe place to call home.
The second step is to become part of the solution to ending homelessness in Bermuda. There are many people and many organisations that are already committed to ending homelessness in Bermuda, as evidenced by the Plan to End Homelessness.
However, it still requires that we all contribute. It is not solely the Government’s responsibility or Home’s. It is the entire community’s responsibility to advocate for the right to housing.
Third, we must develop practical solutions to ensuring that there is enough available housing and resources for those who need them. Such solutions include equitable housing policies that prioritise the wellbeing and dignity of individuals regardless of their socioeconomic situation.
Finally, there needs to be comprehensive legislative changes, increased investment, support, desire and commitment from all of us to end homelessness.
This will require reforming our tax system and introducing a comprehensive wealth-redistribution programme as the solution to the realisation of the human right to housing.
We must create an economy that is based around community responsibility and social justice that ensures housing as a human right. In a country as affluent as Bermuda, we have the necessary resources to realise the right to housing for all, and we should not tolerate anything less.
Q: Why does Bermuda Is Love believe so strongly about this?
A: Bermuda Is Love strongly believes that homelessness is an offence against humanity and our collective conscious. Homelessness threatens individual freedom and liberty, as those experiencing homelessness are excluded from all places governed by private-property rules and laws.
Those experiencing homelessness are excluded from fully participating in society as free and equal citizens. Homelessness, therefore, is a violation of human dignity, safety, wellbeing, fundamental human rights and what it means to be human.
We believe that no one should be forced to choose between eating and paying rent. No family of five should have to live in a one-bedroom apartment. No longer should society turn its back on those unable to pay their rent.
Human rights are meant to ensure freedom and liberty so that everyone is free to accomplish their own wants and desires, and make a meaningful contribution to society.
However, those experiencing homelessness are not free.
They are not able to fully participate in society as free and equal citizens. By ensuring the right to housing, we ensure that we are all truly free.
In 2010, the Bermuda Census identified 82 people experiencing homelessness. By 2016, that number had risen to 138.
According to Home, which produced the report, the Department of Statistics developed those estimates based on counting rough sleepers and the population housed in the Salvation Army emergency shelter.
As of December 31, 2022, Home had recorded more than 650 people experiencing homelessness.
Q: What has Bermuda Is Love seen regarding homelessness?
A: Each person who goes through homelessness has a story to tell, a life worth living, an identity, a name, a face. They are just like you and me. They are human. Therefore, they have the right to dignity and safety.
It is also clear to us that no person experiencing homelessness has ever chosen to do so wilfully.
No one wants to be homelessness.
This is a common lie that we tell ourselves to avoid responsibility. We do it to place further blame and victimise the homeless. We use it as an excuse to suggest that there is nothing that we can do.
“People want to be homeless,” we tell ourselves. However, this could be no farther from the truth. Talking to those who have experienced homelessness, we know that they are no different from you and me, and they would much rather prefer to live in their own home.
However, due to the cost of a home, mental health issues, safety concerns and other factors, they are prevented from doing so.
Q: What would be Bermuda Is Love’s message?
A: Bermuda Is Love’s main message is that the right to housing should be treated as a priority and incorporated into law, similar to free public education, because it protects people from poverty, disease and homelessness.
While Bermuda’s Human Rights Act protects against discrimination and our Constitution Order ensures political and civil rights, social and economic rights such as the right to housing, food, clothing, healthcare and education are absent from our law.
This is not just Bermuda failing to meet its international obligations, it is Bermuda failing to treat all of its people with dignity and respect.
In addition, we all can help to volunteer and donate our time and money to organisations such as Home, Teen Haven, Transformational Living Centre, Salvation Army, Starr, Dignity House, etc.
Everyone can become an advocate for housing rights and speak up on behalf of the homeless.
We can all begin to change our language. By using expressions such as “people experiencing homelessness” as opposed to “bums”, we remind ourselves that people in such situations are people first and foremost.
Having a conversation can also make those who are suffering from isolation and prejudice feel better about themselves.
Q: Why do we support the Ending Homelessness campaign?
A: We support the campaign because housing is a human right. Bermuda Is Love advocates for the right to housing and raising awareness around the issue of homelessness.
Homelessness is a community issue, and so we all have a responsibility to help those less fortunate than us.
Taking human rights seriously means paying attention to the needs of others. It means empathising with others, and helping for the betterment of all. It means creating a Bermuda where we are all free to thrive and flourish, and become the best versions of ourselves.
This is our responsibility to others as Bermudians and as human beings.
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