37 Gender and the Spectrum of Homelessness

Keywords: Homelessness, Research Methodology, Feminist Critique, Government Policy and Intervention

The way we envision the homeless experience is important as it will inform policy creation, funding allocation, and the direction of research into the topic. Typically, the homeless experience is conceptualized as one of sleeping on streets or in shelters and the homeless individual is most likely to be thought of as male (Bretherton 2017). This conceptualization of homelessness stems from the fact that homelessness is socially defined; the definition of homelessness will reflect the way that society is socially organized and follow society’s broader normative assumptions (Watson 2000). Thus, the typical interpretation of homelessness is of the male experience, purports patriarchal norms, and has no consideration for the experiences of homeless women. At best, homelessness is thought to be gender neutral with other factors like poverty or mental illness being of greater import than the role of gender (Schwann et al 2020; Sociol 2010).

Traditional homeless research has often taken the form of point-in-time counts where researchers count every homeless person they can see in a given area on at a specific time (Sociol 2010; Reeve 2018; Bretherton 2017; Schwann et al 2020; Uppal 2022). This strategy has been augmented by also asking homeless outreach services how many people they have served at the same given time using the assumption that most homeless people will contact a homeless service at some point in their life (Sociol 2010; Uppal 2022). Homeless researchers may also use period prevalence measures by counting the usage of homeless services at various month or year-long intervals (Sociol 2010; Uppal 2022). The problem with the way that homelessness is structured, is that traditional methods of research into homelessness are often blind to the fact that homelessness is normatively defined producing inaccurate images of who experiences homelessness (Klodawsky 2006). In the cases of point-in-time counts and usage of homeless outreach services, researchers ignore that men and women experience homelessness differently (Bretherton 2017; Reeve 2018). Women are more likely to seek out temporary shelter with relatives or friends and avoid using the mainstream shelter systems as much as possible (Schwann et al 2020; Fotheringham et al. 2013) As such, homeless women are often invisible to traditional data-gathering methods that expect homeless women to be present on streets or using homeless services (Reeve 2018; Bretherton 2017).

The actual reality of homelessness is that there is a spectrum of homelessness (Schwann et al. 2020). This spectrum includes both previously mentioned components of homelessness: unsheltered (street living) and emergency sheltered (overnight shelters for homeless individuals) living (Schwann et al. 2020). However, the spectrum of homelessness also includes the categories of provisionally accommodated (temporary accommodation or any housing situation that lacks security) and those at risk of homelessness (precarious housing situation or living below public health and safety guidelines) (Schwann et al. 2020). The spectrum of homelessness arises from feminist research concerned with the difference between housing and home ownership. The concept of “home” goes beyond just having a shelter to include ownership of one’s residence and decision-making power within one’s home (Klodawsky 2006; Fotheringham et al. 2013). The shift to focusing on “home” is what allows consideration of individuals who are living in hotels or with friends and/or family as homeless as they lack ownership and agency in their housing situations; this is also known as hidden homelessness (Uppal 2022).

Putting aside the discussion of gender for a moment, newer research has shown that across all demographics, the proportions of hidden homeless in Canada are far greater than the proportion of those who were unsheltered (Uppal 2022). This is supported by data from other countries that have reported the proportion of homeless people that are hidden homeless can be as high as 76% (Bretherton 2017).

While homeless women are more likely to avoid areas typically associated with homelessness, there are still some that live on the streets (Reeve 2018). However, traditional methods of data gathering still often miss these women due to failure to account for differences in experience between men and women (Reeve 2018). One key difference is that homeless women on the street are more likely to choose locations that are out of sight or out of the way. This includes public washrooms or just choosing to move away from more populated city centres (Reeve 2018). Women are also more likely to disguise their homelessness. Interviews with homeless women give examples of women taking measures to hide that they are homeless such as sleeping upright on benches while wearing a poncho instead of using blankets or taking a suitcase into airports or business parks to mimic other travellers (Reeve 2018). Women engaging in these strategies are much more likely to also avoid engaging with outreach teams and are therefore likely to be missed in any street counts being conducted (Reeve 2018).

The motivation why homeless women practice street living differently than men are due to the way that public spaces, the streets, are culturally defined and organized as male spaces whereas private spaces like the home are often defined as female (Klodawsky 2006; O’Grady and Gaetz 2004). This organization of spaces necessitates that women’s homelessness is structurally different from male homelessness. It is also worth noting that homeless women are placed in situations where they are excluded from environments that are culturally coded as female and as such are more likely to be stigmatized as “deviant” than homeless men, for whom the streets are coded as male space (Klodawsky 2006; O’Grady and Gaetz 2004). This means that even women who are “streetwise” are likely to be unable to be fully comfortable as homeless men are more likely to hold the monopoly on money and social power (O’Grady and Gaetz 2004).

The way that the streets are socially constructed and defined also determines what kinds of money-making are available to people; in general, men are more likely to have access to more lucrative opportunities (O’Grady and Gaetz 2004). Studies show that men and women have employment opportunities, but men make significantly higher weekly earnings and are much more likely to be offered full-time work (O’Grady and Gaetz 2004). Studies also show that similar numbers of men and women engage in sex work to make an income while homeless but women, unlike men, are rarely able to operate independently and are often under the control of a pimp (O’Grady and Gaetz 2004).

Homeless women are more likely than men to engage in survival sex (Reeve 2018). Survival sex is different from using sex to earn an income as survival sex is specifically motivated by the desire to avoid or escape living on the street (Reeve 2018). There are 5 general forms that survival sex can take. These include seeking someone to spend the night with, developing an ongoing relationship with a housed man specifically for housing, temporarily reuniting with exes for accommodation, engaging in sex work to be able to afford a hotel, and using sex work to find a client that will allow them to stay with them for the night (Reeve 2018). Survival sex may also be used to barter for necessary survival items (ex. food) or services (ex. laundry) (Reeve 2018). A 2011 study found that in a sample of 400 single homeless women, 20% used sex work to pay for hotel rooms, 28% spent the night with a housed man specifically for access to accommodation, and 19% engaged in sex work for the opportunity to spend a night with their client (Reeve 2018).

Homeless women also face unique challenges when it comes to motherhood as well (Reeve 2018). Lack of childcare presents a significant impact on a woman’s ability to find adequate employment to escape homelessness, as well as the lack of transitional housing programs and low-income housing options (Schwann et al 2020). While family shelters are an option for homeless mothers, staying at these shelters often has a risk of child removal due to mandatory reporting legislation and can create reluctance to use shelter programs (Schwann et al. 2020). This risk is much higher for indigenous mothers (Schwann et al. 2020). Homeless mothers also face increased stigmatization as they are seen as “bad mothers” due to their inability to provide stable housing for their child’s illness (Schwann et al. 2020; Fotheringham et al. 2013). The feeling of increased societal pressure may lead to a higher prevalence of mental illness in homeless mothers (Schwann et al. 2020; Fotheringham et al. 2013). Furthermore, it has been observed that mothers that are no longer providing direct care for their children due to child removal or the mother sending them to live with relatives are often unable to access family-specific supports. Instead, women are treated as single by the system (Reeve 2018). Finding housing for homeless mothers can also be made more difficult by the need to ensure that housing is close enough to necessary services like school and take into account neighbourhood safety (Schwann et al. 2020).

Access to housing has been identified as an issue that is primarily related to income rather than discrimination (Watson 2000). While poverty is an issue that affects both men and women, it can have a greater impact on women as they are more likely to be paid less than men. Criteria for entrance to supportive housing programs may use average male incomes entrance requirements (Watson 2000). Furthermore, women are more likely to have a greater share of domestic responsibility (childcare in particular) and are therefore less likely to be able to work full-time (Watson 2000).

A major difference exists between men’s and women’s homelessness regarding their causal factors. Research demonstrates that men’s homelessness occurs through early life social exclusion that continues into adulthood, whereas women’s homelessness is more often associated with relationship breakdown (Bretherton 2017). This difference also accounts for part of the misrepresentation of homeless women in homeless statistics. Women who access domestic violence services like refugees are often recorded as victims of domestic violence rather than homeless (Bretherton 2017). This separation of homelessness and domestic violence services can become extremely problematic as women who access specific domestic violence services are then often barred from also accessing homelessness services (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). Women experience increased risk from domestic violence as they are most often the lower wage earner in their homes (and have more precarious job security), and are less able to avoid homelessness should they flee from an abusive partner (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). Women escaping domestic violence are also shown to frequently give up their jobs as well as familial support making it more difficult to secure their housing and often forcing them to rely on shelters (Schwann et al 2020). While it may be possible for women to gain access to domestic violence-specific services, these services often require police reports and criminal investigation to partake. This may lead to a higher risk of violence due to retaliation from the abuser (Schwann et al. 2020). Studies show that women on the street are also at significantly increased risk of experiencing violence as 37% of women experienced sexual assault in 2016 (Schwann et al. 2020). This often leads to a desire to avoid living on the street and may encourage a woman to remain in an abusive relationship if she has nowhere else to go as this may be the safer option (Schwann et al. 2020).

One major step that can be taken to ameliorate the risk of homelessness for women would be the integration of policy and services for domestic violence and homelessness (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). Canada’s National Housing Strategy in 2017 has shifted programming to a housing 1^st model with the emphasis being placed on achieving rapid rehousing for people entering homelessness. However, it has focused on the standard or male-centric definition of homelessness and ignores women’s specific needs surrounding housing and homelessness (Yakubovich and Maki 2021; Fotheringham et al. 2013). The implementation of the National Housing Strategy has shown positive results but these results have been male favoured (Yakubovich and Maki. 2021). As of May 2020, Canada has committed to providing $76 million for domestic violence shelters, sexual assault clinics and non-profit gender-based violence organizations, as well as $344 million towards the national housing strategy and $1 billion towards rapid rehousing initiatives (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). While this is a good step, the problem with funding remains as it is segregated at the policy level, and will run into the same issues that are already present in the system where women can access some services but get locked out of others (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). A major boon to Canada’s efforts to combat both homelessness and domestic violence would be to produce an intersectional definition of homelessness. It would incorporate domestic violence as a primary cause of women’s homelessness and focus on producing intersectional policy and programming to address both issues simultaneously (Yakubovich and Maki 2021).

There are working examples of what intersectional policy would look like in other countries. One example is the United Kingdom’s Domestic Abuse bill that provides priority housing for domestic abuse survivors which recognizes homelessness as a primary concern for those experiencing domestic abuse. As such, it seeks to act as a preventative measure to avoid the experience of homelessness entirely (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). Another example is found in Scotland where it is now possible for the tenancy to be transferred from the abusive partner to the domestic abuse survivor (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). Other countries have also developed an intersectional policy that focuses on providing short-term funding to provide financial and advocacy support to domestic abuse survivors. This includes connecting housing providers with domestic abuse services to provide rapid relocation and rehousing to domestic abuse survivors (Yakubovich and Maki 2021).

There are several potential ways that policy could be developed to help better address women’s homelessness. The first priority needs to be on creating a more standardized and intersectional definition of homelessness which acknowledges both the range of experiences of homeless people as well as the multitude of causal factors for homelessness (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). This would go a long way towards allowing new policies and programming to be shaped to better fit the needs of the people accessing them. It would provide more clear direction to research on homelessness and provide better guidelines for the outcome evaluation of programs (Yakubovich and Maki 2021). Overall, if these changes aren’t made, Canada will continue to ignore a significant part of its homeless population simply because they are not visible enough. The problems they face will only continue to grow; implementing these changes must be of paramount importance.

References

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