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- Title
A Policy Analysis of National Occupancy Standards with a Focus on Their Impact on Women Who Have Experienced Gender-Based Violence in British Columbia.
- Authors
McKay, Alina; Knowles, Tanyss
- Abstract
For the past three decades, National Occupancy Standards (NOS) have been the default standard used by government and non-governmental housing organizations in Canada to assess housing suitability. However, there is growing concern that the prescriptive nature of these standards limits access to housing for those most in need, including women+ who have experienced gender-based violence and their families (Knowles et al., 2019). In this paper, we draw on Ginsberg and Miller-Cribbs' (2005) framework for policy analysis that explores the feasibility, efficacy, quality, access, and ethics of NOS. This work also draws on a feminist ethics of care framework (Tronto, 1994) that places human relationships at its centre (Walker, 2007) and critically explores the extent to which government policies effectively care for its citizens (Sevenhuijsen et al., 2003). Together these frameworks help demonstrate the limitations of NOS, and the role they play as a barrier to housing. This has important implications, especially in light of Canada's National Housing Strategy Act that recognizes the right to adequate housing as a "fundamental human right affirmed by international law" (National Housing Strategy Act, 2019). We conclude by outlining four recommendations for future policy, including the need to recognize NOS as guidelines, create new housing suitability policies that prioritize safety, create housing suitability policies with families, and reduce family poverty. This policy analysis provides an important reminder of the need to critically examine policies that shape social work practices and the colonial and neoliberal values that are often embedded in them.
- Subjects
CANADA; OCCUPANCY (Law); SEX discrimination in housing; VIOLENCE; HOUSING policy; POVERTY reduction
- Publication
International Journal of Social Work Values & Ethics, 2022, Vol 19, Issue 3, p132
- ISSN
2790-6345
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.55521/10-019-309