#poornotguilty

#PoorNotGuilty curates resources on the decriminalisation of homelessness and the right to housing.

#PoorNotGuilty established in 2019 at the international Petty Offenses Symposium

At a communication workshop, advocates selected the hashtag #PoorNotGuilty to share stories and amplify and support advocacy addressing the criminalization of poverty. Advocates came from Canada, Guinea, Guyana, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The workshop was held at University of Miami prior to the Petty Offenses Symposium: Challenging Criminalization of Poverty, Marginalization, and Gender Non-Conformity.

The Human Rights Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, Matters at Play design lab at DePaul University, the National Homelessness Law Center, and the Fines & Fees Justice Center have developed a series of virtual interactive simulations highlighting how fines and fees in the United States justice system perpetuate poverty.

These simulations require players to roleplay with the goal of generating empathy around the impossible binds current laws and policies place people experiencing homelessness and poverty. They are further embedded in a website providing participants with additional resources at https://poornotguilty.org/challenges.html.

Related Updates

There’s a hidden side to our justice system — one that punishes people not for what they did, but for what they don’t have. Across the country, states are using...
Date: October 2025
Joint Statement by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Press freedom in Southern Africa is increasingly under threat, and one way it is...
Date: October 2025
Partners for Dignity & Rights: On June 3, 2025, several advocates working on housing, homeless/houseless and poverty issues in the United States met with civil society staff of the United...
Date: September 2025

#PoorNotGuilty Resources

Curated resources on Homelessness produced by the campaign and/or campaign partners.

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The Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status is a coalition of organisations from across the world that advocate for the repeal of laws that target people based on poverty, status or for their activism.

@DecrimPS

#DecrimPoverty   |  #DecrimStatus  |  #DecrimActivism