#poornotguilty

#PoorNotGuilty curates resources and advocates on the decriminalisation of homelessness and around the rights to adequate 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 hosted by UM’s School of Law’s Human Rights Clinic, UM Law Review, UM School of Communication, National Homelessness Law Center, and Open Society Foundations’ Human Rights Initiative.

Founding Partners

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 at poornotguilty.org/challenge.

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 introducing participants to the relevant human rights standards at poornotguilty.org.

Related Updates

Invisible People: Florida state lawmakers approved a bill that prohibits camping on public property at a time when homelessness has increased by more than 8% across the state since 2022....
Date: March 2024
ICwS & ICJ: On 7 March 2024, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) presented its joint project on the decriminalisation of poverty and status to the 2024 Commonwealth Law Ministers...
Date: March 2024
At least 22 African countries – former colonies of the Belgians, British, Dutch, French and Portuguese – retain domestic laws that make ‘vagrancy’ illegal and equip the police with excessive...
Date: March 2024

#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