Our advocacy organization has been working on housing rights for three years and we keep getting pulled into debates about whose displacement matters most - long-term residents versus recent immigrants versus people experiencing homelessness - and I think we're accidentally recreating the same hierarchies we're supposed to be fighting. We say we believe in universal housing rights but our coalition meetings feel like we're competing for who deserves help first.
More people experience this than they realize.
The group is discovering that applying universal principles requires navigating particular histories and needs that seem to contradict each other.
“Where Are You with Human rights framework?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.