A/74/255 frequency sound devices audible only to children and adolescents are sometimes used abusively to deter their presence in public spaces. 51 51. While recognizing that restrictions may sometimes be needed to keep public spaces accessible to all, States should make efforts to guarantee the right of the child to freely engage in age-appropriate recreational activities, cultural life and the arts, based on the principles of inclusion, participation and non-discrimination, including by ensuring their access, irrespective of nationality or ethnic origin, to adequate public spaces. In doing so, they should pay specific attention to children with disabilities. Homeless persons 52. Access to and the security of public spaces are a particular concern for homeless persons and children in street situations, as they do not have other alternative private space. They live and engage in a range of activities in public spaces, including work, socialization and leisure, shelter, sleeping, cooking and washing, and also depend on publicly accessible toilets and washrooms to preserve a minimum of privacy and human dignity in a situation of distress. 53. In many countries, public authorities have adopted targeted rules and regulations that further impair their human rights 52 and installed a variety of devices in public spaces to discourage their presence. Gentrification processes, sometimes entailing displacement of homeless persons, increased video surveillance and the presence of patrols in the streets, reducing the sense of privacy, can also deter vulnerable persons from being in public spaces. 54. Homelessness should be prevented in a human rights-compliant manner, in line with the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, and general comment No. 21 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on children in street situations (see A/HRC/31/54, A/71/310 and CRC/C/GC/21). B. Securing public spaces 55. Securing public spaces is an important aspect of guaranteeing accessibility. Measures to guarantee safety and prevent crime in public spaces s hould be effective and in accordance with international standards. Authorities can adopt legislation, for example, by establishing penalties for harassment in public places and regulating safer markets. 53 Measures to improve the sense of security can also take the form of improving public lighting, integrating urban equipment to make spaces more inviting 54 or promoting the development and use of technologies or hotlines to report incidents of violence. In natural spaces, measures can include providing adequat e information to avoid danger or physically securing spaces, for instance, with railings on cliffs or mountain areas. Securing public spaces also includes providing protection against harassment online. __________________ 51 52 53 54 19-13014 See Council of Europe recommendation 1930 (2010) on youth dispersal devices and Patsy Eubanks Owens, “No teens allowed: the exclusion of adolescents from public spaces ”, Landscape Journal, vol. 21, No. 1 (January 2002). Amounting in certain places to a criminalization of living and sleeping in public spaces. See A/HRC/31/54, paras. 23–24; and communication OL HUN 4/2018 of 20 June 2018. UN-Women, “Safe cities and safe public spaces: global results report”, pp. 13–14. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, “The social value of public spaces” (2007), p. 11. 15/24