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Babayaga - Senior citizen cooperative housing [Paris, France]
The Babayagas house in Paris, named after Slavic mythology44, offers more than housing to female senior citizens who want to stay independent - it offers a place of community. The self-managed social housing project inaugurated in 2013 was first imagined in 1999 by 85-year-old Thérèse Clerc. In an interview with France Médias Monde, Clerc says We want to change the way people see old age, and that means learning to live differently. Living differently means living affordably, central to public transit, shops and culture and in an apartment that is adapted to your needs. The Babayagas house has 25 units, 21 are adapted specifically for senior residents and 4 are reserved for students.
Funding for the project was provided by a range of public sources including the Montreuil city council, who valued the innovative idea behind the project. The Babayagas house has already inspired two similar projects in Palaiseau and Bagneux. With growing elderly populations, municipalities will need to provide dignified and suitable housing solutions, often within legal and financial constraints around land ownership and funding. Local governments can provide expertise and brokerage for new community-led models designed to meet the real needs of people of different generations.
5B. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS, SUPPORT AND PREVENTION
44 HIRTH, A. (2013), 'The Babayagas house, a feminist alternative to old people s homes, opens in Paris', RFI, available at: https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20130305-babayagas-house
45 SEDGHI, A. (2014) Violence against women: what the EU-wide survey tells us , The Guardian, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/mar/05/violence-against-women-european-union- physicalsexual-abuse
46 UN Women, 'The Shadow Pandemic: Violence against women during COVID-19', see at: https://www.unwomen. org/en/news/in-focus/in-focus-gender-equality-in-covid-19-response/violence-against-women-during-covid-19
47 Stadt Frankfurt am Main, 'Häusliche Gewalt: Plakataktion informiert über Beratungsstellen und Gewaltschutzgesetz', see at: https://frankfurt.de/service-und-rathaus/verwaltung/aemter-und-institutionen/ frauenreferat/gewaltschutz/haeusliche-gewalt/plakataktion-haeusliche-gewalt
In 2014, a major survey by the European Fundamental Rights Agency found that a third of women in Europe report having experienced some form of physical or sexual abuse since the age of 15 including domestic violence, stalking, harassment and sexual assault45; the majority of this abuse happens at the hands of these women s intimate partners. During the Covid-19 pandemic, all types of violence against women and girls, but particularly domestic violence, saw a dramatic and tragic upswing46. Cities responded through awareness campaigns, hotlines, increase in space at shelters, and other measures. For example, the mayor of London (England) started a 2022 campaign called Have a word to raise awareness among men about how to identify and prevent violence against women in their peer groups, and the city of Frankfurt (Germany) started a public awareness campaign with contact details for shelters and counselling centres47.
Although this issue most often sits within the national government s remit, many cities offer assistance to victims of abuse by providing shelter and refuge and supporting organisations offering specialised assistance to survivors. Actions to raise awareness at city level include: cultivate a zero-tolerance attitude towards
harassment in public space prohibit sexualised stereotypes of women
in public advertising educate men and boys about stereotypes
and violence.
Taking actions in the public sphere can help make the urban environment more welcoming to women, as well as contribute to changing unhealthy dynamics that may lead to violence in the private sphere. The city can also play a part in creating a social infrastructure that empowers residents to know how to help women and men they suspect of being involved in violence.
Case Study
