A/66/265 livelihoods. When States impose bans, onerous licences or strict restrictions on street vendors, they severely undermine the rights of persons living in poverty to gain a living.29 40. While States can adopt reasonable regulations, law enforcement officials are often given wide discretion to determine zones, days and times when street vending activities are banned or restricted. This makes street vendors more vulnerable to abuse by law enforcement officials, private individuals or gangs. As a result, they often suffer from threats to their life and physical integrity, as well as from bribery, extortion and unlawful seizures of their wares. 41. When street vendors are harassed or bribed or their wares are destroyed, deep structural inequalities and power imbalances, communication and information barriers and a lack of access to legal representation make it nearly impossible for them to complain to police. In countries where street vending is illegal, individuals are too afraid to report mistreatment or harm to police for fear of being criminalized themselves. This is particularly acute with respect to street vendors who are members of vulnerable groups which face widespread discrimination and have historically had negative relationships with police and authorities, such as women, migrants and ethnic minorities. 42. Children who live or work on the street are particularly vulnerable to penalization measures. Street children lead lives defined by abuse, violence and fear, but because they are stigmatized as criminal or illegitimate they have little recourse to help or redress. Children on the street are exploited, trafficked, forced to perform hazardous work and recruited by armed forces and armed groups, and do not seek the assistance of authorities for fear of further penalization or abuse. In many cases children living in poverty are not registered at birth and as such cannot access basic services including primary education. With nowhere else to turn, they must undertake activities such as street vending, begging or panhandling in order to survive.30 When these actions are made illegal, they are further forced into dangerous and abusive situations. 43. Absurdly, regulations that penalize behaviours associated with poverty and homelessness often impose fines that persons living in poverty are unable to pay. The illogical outcome of failure to pay a fine is often the imposition of a further fine, or even a prison sentence. In one country, for example, thousands were imprisoned in a single year because of non-payment of court-ordered fines.31 The imposition of prison sentences for non-payment of fines on those unable to pay not only represents a considerable waste of State financial and administrative resources, but contributes significantly to perpetuating the social exclusion and economic hardship of persons living in poverty. B. Urban planning regulations and measures 44. In several countries, the transformation of cities through gentrification policies, the privatization of social housing, redevelopment and adoption of zoning __________________ 29 30 31 11-44449 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 6. A/HRC/16/L.13/Rev.1, para. 3 (e). Irish Penal Reform Trust, “6,681 imprisoned for non-payment of fines in 2010”, 2 February 2011. 13