This reader has some basic comments on the article “57-year-old woman found dead in the city garden” (BZ of November 25).
The report in the BZ on November 25, “57-year-old woman found dead in the city garden” does not only make one concerned. It also shows in shockingly clear how low the threshold is for becoming homeless. According to the press article, according to the Office for Social Affairs, the woman was not accessible; “very likely because of or with a mental illness”.
Nevertheless, the foreclosure was carried out: “The woman first lay apathetically in bed, but was soon able to pull herself up. She then left the apartment on her own,” said the representative of the social welfare office present in a protocol about the rumination.
As a result of the rumination, the woman lost her apartment and then had to live her life without a “roof over her head”. What this means is easy to imagine given the prevailing cold temperatures.
Homelessness is the most severe form of social exclusion. As the further course of events has shown drastically, it endangers the health and life of a person. Because of this threat to fundamental rights, the responsible authorities are obliged to do everything possible to avoid homelessness.
Have the government representatives involved fulfilled this obligation to a sufficient extent? Is it enough to cooperate or to watch that a sick person goes more or less “voluntarily” into homelessness and thus into mortal danger? In this case, would it not have been advisable to postpone the evacuation and have a doctor clarify whether the woman can survive without shelter at all, especially if she refuses any help? If you follow the statements of the city’s press spokesman, the authorities involved have done everything right. Even if this eviction had legally been carried out, it is this social cold that makes one fear and anxiety. Because in view of the great housing shortage, the fate of this woman today can happen to (almost) everyone of us.
Karl-Heinz Ruder, Lawyer, Emmendingen
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