New research commissioned by St Mungo’s reveals evidence that rough sleeping numbers are ‘almost certainly being undercounted’ and that women are more likely to be missed in official figures.
Sleeping rough is dangerous for everyone, but the report ‘Women and Rough Sleeping’ by academics Joanne Bretherton and Nicholas Pleace from the University of York’s Centre for Housing Policy, gives new evidence of the ‘horrendous’ experiences of women, which often includes sexual abuse, violence and stigmatisation.
The report presents fresh analysis of data from London and across England, alongside new research with women who have slept rough, revealing
- Women sleeping rough tend to be younger and are significantly more likely than men to be aged 25 or under
- Women sleeping rough are more likely than men to need support for mental health problems.
- Women are more likely to sleep rough for short periods than men
Our own data also reveals that women’s homelessness is associated with domestic violence, as a third (33%) of our female residents that slept rough said domestic abuse contributed to them becoming homeless.
Hiding from harm can mean that women are hidden from help, and missing from homelessness services and statistics. Women told the researchers the steps they took to conceal themselves, such as sleeping away from busy town centres or disguising their gender. One woman said:
[I hid in] Wendy houses in back gardens, sheds, empty garages, empty houses that were gonna be demolished…public toilets…wherever. It’s easier to find a shed in someone’s back yard than it is to sit in a doorway and risk getting a beating. That’s why women tend to hide, they think safety first.
The report also investigated how countries across the world count homelessness and rough sleeping, for women and men, and recommends more and improved data collection to better understand the scale and scope of issues that lead people to sleep rough.
St Mungo’s is calling on the government to take urgent action to recognise the issues faced by women living on our streets and do more to support them away from rough sleeping, as well as prevent them becoming homeless in the first place.
Read the summary report or download the full report on our website here.
Part of a longer press release at https://www.mungos.org/news/women-and-rough-sleeping-report-released/
HERitage stall this Saturday 29th January at St Cuthbert's hall, Amble. Come along, see you there