Case 34: A woman uses Charter to negotiate culturally appropriate crisis accommodation

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A woman seeking assistance from a crisis accommodation service advised that, as a practising Muslim, she could not reside in a premises with men. The service proceeded to refer her to a backpacker’s hostel where most residents were men. The woman felt intimidated and harassed having to share bathrooms and kitchen facilities with men, and it was Ramadan at the time. She contacted the Homelessness Advocacy Service at the Council of Homeless Persons for assistance. The advocacy service contacted the crisis accommodation service raising the woman’s cultural and religious rights under the Charter. As a result, the service agreed to find appropriate crisis accommodation and ultimately found her a long term place in a women’s rooming house.

Source: 2014 Report on the Operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, p. 31.