CEDAW/C/51/D/19/2008 acquisition, management, administration and enjoyment of property, any discriminatory practices or laws that interfered with her ownership, acquisition, management, administration or enjoyment of the Rae-Edzo property in particular, or any discriminatory conduct on the part of the authorities in respect of the removal of her name from the Assignment of Lease for that property. The State party reiterates its arguments that the author has not brought forth any evidence to substantiate the claim that there has been discrimination in her case, and that the communication deals with a personal dispute between the author and her partner, and an act of fraud and/or abuse of public office committed by the partner to advance his personal interests. It also submits that the constitutional protections and legislative measures cited above, in combination with any applicable family law legislation, aim to ensure the elimination of discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, and to ensure the same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property in accordance with article 16, paragraph 1 (h), of the Convention.13 The State party therefore maintains that the author has not demonstrated any violation of article 16, paragraph 1 (h), of the Convention. Further submissions from the parties 9.1 On 26 October 2011, the author submitted as the reasons for not accepting alternative housing offers that her home and belongings were illegally stripped from her as a direct result of the collusion between her partner and the local housing association of which he was a member of the Board and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation which carried out his request to remove her name from the Assignment of Lease without her authorization. She submits that her common-law relationship was falsely characterized by her partner and the legal system as a ―boarder‖ relationship. After she took refuge in a battered women’s shelter, she was informed by her lawyer that she had been evicted from her home and was under threat of criminal charges and arrest if she stepped onto the property again. As a result, she and her three children became homeless for several years, were forced to live apart for an extended period of time, and her ability to obtain and maintain employment were affected by that eviction. 9.2 The author submits that in exchange, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation proposed to replace her three-bedroom privately owned home with a one-room duplex with a studio space, which was a rental unit. She had three teenage children and was pregnant with a fourth child and considered that the offer was neither fair nor reasonable. She did not believe that the Housing Corporation was making the offer in good faith because they had already played a role in taking her home. She was concerned that if she moved into the rental unit with her three children, they would evict her under a different rule regarding limitation, for example, on the size of families living in studio units. She maintains that she is an aboriginal woman with a homeland and a treaty right to land and a house, that she chose where to reside when she purchased her home and that she wanted security and enough space in her home for her growing family and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation did not offer her that. Furthermore, she was told by the North Slave Housing Corporation that she could apply to purchase a home if she wanted, but when she applied on two occasions she was denied a house because her income did not meet the criteria to become a homeowner. 9.3 The author further submits that the lawsuit took so many years to settle, because between 1995 and 2005, she was pursuing the same goal to regain her home and her 13 14 The State party notes, as one example, the Northwest Territories’ Family Law Act which sets out the laws about the rights and responsibilities of married and common-law spouses, both before and after separation, and also deals with spousal support and how people divide their property.