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37. In several countries, the negative impact of these regulations is further
exacerbated by laws which make illegal actions to assist those living in the street. In
several States, specific legislation limits the actions of civil society organizations20
or bans the provision of assistance in certain circumstances. For example, in some
municipalities, it is illegal to share food with groups of people in downtown parks
without a permit, creating a barrier for charities and other organizations that provide
food to homeless persons.21 The criminalization of advocates, activists and civil
society organizations violates several human rights such as the freedom of
association, expression and assembly, and undermines social cohesion.
38. Persons living in poverty are also disproportionately subjected to police
powers to impose anti-social behaviour and move-on orders, and public safety laws
allowing police to “stop and search” individuals. These measures are often widereaching and subject to considerable discretion on the part of police officers, who
make subjective judgements that do not need to meet a high burden of proof.22
Overwhelmingly, these regulations are targeted at the marginalized and most
vulnerable and the areas and communities in which they live. Of persons living in
poverty, those subject to multiple forms of discrimination are even more frequently
targeted.23 These measures respond to and reinforce discriminatory attitudes about
the likelihood of persons living in poverty partaking in criminal activity, and
perpetuate the stigmatization of poverty. For example, in one country, rules for the
use of the capital city metro allow police to remove people who are disturbing other
passengers by, inter alia, wearing “filthy clothing”.24
39. Of particular concern are penalization measures that target those who seek to
gain a living through street vending. In many States, street vending is severely
restricted25 or illegal,26 as is buying from a street vendor.27 Research shows that
street vendors turn to vending because they have no other form of income, have low
levels of education and lack employment opportunities.28 Street vending is a means
for the poorest and most vulnerable to earn money to support their families and their
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28
12
Mandeep Tiwana and Netsanet Belay, “Civil society: the clampdown is real — global trends
2009-2010”, Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation, December 2010. Available from
www.civicus.org.
See, for example, section 18A.01 of the Code of the City of Orlando, Florida, United States. See
also “Homes not handcuffs” (note 17 above), p. 11.
See George Lavendar, “Gang injunctions just criminalize poor communities”, The Guardian,
1 February 2011.
For example, black individuals in one country are six times more likely, and Asian individuals
twice as likely, to be subject to police “stop and search” powers than white individuals. See
“Police stop and search powers ‘target minorities’”, BBC News, 15 March 2010.
Budapest Transport Company (BKV Zrt), “Terms and conditions of travelling”, available at
www.bkv.hu/en/travel_conditions/terms_and_conditions_of_travelling.
This is the case, for example, in New York City (see Jennifer Lee, “Street vending as a way to
ease joblessness”, The New York Times, 29 April 2009) and Durban (see Blessing Karumbidza,
“Criminalizing the livelihoods of the poor: the impact of formalising informal trading on female
and migrant traders in Durban”, Socio-economic Rights Institute of South Africa, 2011).
For example, in some municipalities in Thailand (Cleanliness and Order of the City Act 1992
and Public Health Act 1992) and Cambodia (Sub-decree on Public Order). See Kyoko Kusakabe,
“Policy issues on street vending: an overview of studies in Thailand, Cambodia and Mongolia”,
International Labour Office, 2006.
Bosco R. Asiimwe, “Nyarugenge to penalise vendors’ clients”, Rwandan New Times, 3 August
2011.
Kusakabe (note 26 above), p. 23.
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