2007 Homeless Taskforce Updates

According to a report titled “Hate, Violence, and Death on main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness from 1999-2002” by the National Coalition for the Homeless, Seattle was ranked the 7th most dangerous city and Washington was ranked the 3rd most dangerous state for people facing homelessness.

The homeless are a vulnerable group in our city. Seattle & King County Public Health reports that in 2005 ninety-four homeless people died and 9% of the deaths were due to homicide and 71% of all the incidents leading to death occurred in Seattle.

Despite these disturbing figures, this data highly underestimates the actual number of attacks based on information received from service providers. Most crimes go unreported due to many factors including mental illness, fear of reporting or retaliation, distrust of system, etc.

The study also revealed that the majority of the attacks are perpetrated by youth ages 16 to 19 years old. These youths have been known to even video tape themselves doing these attacks.

The National Coalition for the Homeless statistics proves that, nationwide, violent attacks against the homeless have increased dramatically over the last three years. The Ending Homelessness Taskforce seeks to create protections even if we do not have data stating the national spike in violence against the homeless is happening in Seattle. We want to do this partly to continue Seattle's role as a leader in human rights protections and partly to advance protection for a vulnerable community before we see a further escalation of violence.

Contact Information
Commissioner: Jay Wellington
Phone: (206) 898-8703
Email: windjammer.j@gmail.com

Commissioner: Marissa Chavez
Phone: (206) 459-2236
Email: chavezmarissa@gmail.com

Commissioner: Lubna M. Mahadeen
Phone: (206) 587-6954
Email: Lubna.mahadeen@gmail.com

Community Resident: Charles Hodges
Phone: (206) 769-2257
Email: chodges@johnlscott.com

Key Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status…

Article 3: Everyone has the right to Life, Liberty, and Personal Security.

Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Our Goals
By adding homelessness to Seattle’s Malicious Harassment Ordinance, the Homelessness Taskforce hopes to do three things:

• First, we want to promote legal protection to a vulnerable population within the city of Seattle. This action would protect the personal security of the homeless and give them increased recognition before the law.
  
• Second, we want to fight the dehumanization of the homeless by discouraging behavior that reinforces and promotes dehumanization of the homeless.
  
• Third, we want to pursue a teen education campaign, in coordination with other stakeholders in the homeless-advocacy community, using the ordinance as a tool. We choose to focus on teens because “thrill seekers, primarily in their teens, are the most common perpetrators of violence against people who are homeless.¹”

Our proposed ordinance revision and subsequent education campaign would help promote the Seattle Human Rights Commission’s work in the community by carrying the spirit of the Declaration for all the citizens of Seattle.

¹ The National Coalition for the Homeless Factsheet
www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/Hatecrimes.pdf : Page 2, December 2006.

Documents

All files are in Acrobat PDF format.

• Briefing Memo
  
• Maine Legislation passes
  
• Taskforce Outreach Efforts
  
• FAQ Sheet
  
• Endorsement Letters
  • SKCCH
  • SHARE
  • WHEEL
    
• Media Coverage/ Homeless Attacks
  • Brutal Attacks on homeless on upswing across country
  • Unprovoked Beatings of homeless soaring
    
• NCH Fact Sheet
  
• Proposal on Ordinance Change - Full Proposal
  
  
• SHRC-Response to Encampments - Public Hearing Jan. 28,2008
  • SHRC-Response to Encampments
  • SHRC- Encampment Letter to the Media