Rather be a homeless alcoholic than just homeless
25-08-2009

Being homeless is pretty much the worst you can be in Russia. Not alone one is deprived of roughly speaking all rights but it also means a social status so low in the hierarchy that many seek a higher position on the social ladder by becoming attached to one of  the many organizations under Alcoholics Anonymous in order to obtain another identity.

This is one of the conclusions in a thesis on homelessness and homeless people in Russia, which Maj Kastanje, candidate in International Development Studies and Public Health Science, has just finished.

During a month in the autumn of 2008 Maj Kastanje went to see and interview 9 men in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Earlier she lived 6 months in the same town in connection with a trainee period in the biggest homeless organisation in Russia: Nochlezhka.

Homeless means being a bum.

In her thesis Maj Kastanje examines both the society’s view of the homeless and the homeless’ own view upon themselves. During the Soviet period and until 1991 it was illegal to be homeless and unemployed. The homeless were sentenced for being parasites and sent to labour camps in order to become re-educated.

The homeless were used by the state to show a negative example opposed to the ideal socialistic citizen, tells Maj Kastanje.

But even if it is no longer illegal to be homeless, it has not become easier. The homeless are still the opposite of the ideals of society, which in the new and modern Russia mean enterprising, vitality and the idea that every man is the architect of his own fortune.

No address – no help

Besides the low social status identity you are also, as a homeless person in Russia deprived of almost all social security benefits. The fact is that these are attached to the individual address, so if you do not have it, you have lost your right to medical treatment, social security benefits and the right to vote and even the right to work. Thus it becomes impossible for the individual person to earn money for a new residence where they could be registered, and the vicious circle can continue, says Maj Kastanje.

For example, you can lose your address if you get in jail or are cheated in a housing deal. This means that the social come down in the world is not further away than getting drunk and then being cheated into handing it over. Therefore when the common people look so much down upon the homeless, it originates in fear, she thinks.

The homeless are constantly reminding the Russians about the fact that the trip to the gutter is extremely short. So short that a real estate agent can get you drunk and make you sign something, says Maj Kastanje.

She thinks that the state totally ignores the complex of problems concerning the lack of rights of the homeless. During her research she has come across information from the state claiming that as well subjective reasons (such as disinclination to work) as genetic and biological factors lie behind the situation of the homeless.

Before the status of the homeless people as criminals meant that the state was under an obligation to take care of them, but today they have no status at all.Today the homeless are in a juridical vacuum, declares Maj Kastanje.  

 

Facts about the Russian homeless people
There are about 142 million Russians and about 4-5 million of them are homeless. This corresponds to 2, 8 – 3, 5 % of the entire population. In Denmark the census has shown that 0, 1 % of the population is homeless.

Link
Read the thesis