Otrygghet från ett människorättsperspektiv: (O)jämställd trygghet på BmSS i Göteborgs Stad

Abstract

Sweden has ratified fundamental human rights conventions such as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Convention of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, the implementation is not complete and still needs work on a national as well as a local level. A nation wide survey conducted by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions shows a gap between men and women with disabilities living in supported housing (BmSS) when it comes to their experience of safety in their home in many of he Swedish municipities. Although the experience of safety on its own is not a human right per se, it can be related to several human rights in the conventions mentioned above. That the experience of safety is rated lower among women in supported housing than that among men, is thus a problem related to gender equality as well as other human rights found in the conventions above. There is a gap in the research surrounding the experience of safety in supported housing, that often lacks the gender perspective. The research on experiences of safety that has a gender perspective tends to lack a perspective on disability. It also tends to focus on public spaces. Starting in the example of the city of Gothenburg (Göteborgs Stad), the aim of this thesis is to explore how the municipality work toward a gender equal experience of safety for the residents of supported housing. It does so on a basis of interviews with eleven officials within the area of supported housing, as well as on basis of regulatory documents. It does so based on theories of intersectionality and gender equality, as well as theories of safety and human rights based approach, that analyzes and categorizes the results with the help of dimensions in an analysis of ideas. The main results shows that the city of Gothenburg lacks an efficient way to work with a gender equal experience of safety. The city is, according to the regulatory documents, supposed to work with gender mainstreaming in all of their activity, which they are not practicing in the area of supported housing. Instead it seems to be up to every unit manager to lay the bar for the work with gender equality. That makes it hard, if not impossible, to work with the experience of safety in at way that fully correlates with the human rights.