Coalition Urges Government To Address ‘Invisible’ Women’s Homelessness

/in /by

Single Homeless Project and Solace Women’s Aid are joined by partners across the homelessness and Violence Against Women and Girls sectors to write to Alison McGovern MP, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness, calling for stronger action on women’s homelessness.

The letter, sent by the National Women’s Homeless Coalition alongside the National Domestic Abuse and Housing Policy and Practice Group, welcomes the Government’s ambition to end homelessness but warns that the National Plan does not yet adequately address the realities women face.

Lucy Campbell, Assistant Director of System Change at Single Homeless Project, said: “Women’s homelessness is systematically under-recorded, under-responded to, and too often rendered invisible by policies and practices designed around predominantly male experiences of homelessness.

Women make up half of the population in this country, yet their experiences continue to be overlooked in policy and data. If the Government is serious about ending homelessness, it must act now to ensure the National Plan properly reflects the realities of women’s homelessness and the risks they face.”

Women are less likely to sleep visibly on the streets because of the high risk of violence and abuse. Many instead sleep in places where they are less likely to be seen such as stairwells, hospitals, public transport or temporarily with strangers. Because official data often relies on people being visibly “bedded down”, large numbers of women experiencing rough sleeping are missed.  The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census, which has gathered data from more than 3,000 women across almost 100 local authorities since 2022, suggests the number of women sleeping rough may be ten times higher than official Government figures indicate.

Kathryn Parsons, Public Affairs Manager at Solace, said: “For four years, this report has shown that violence and abuse are near universal factors in the lives of women experiencing rough sleeping. While the government agendas to halve violence against women and girls and to halve rough sleeping present an opportunity, women’s voices and experiences must be embedded throughout new strategies for lasting change to take hold. We cannot endure another year of rising numbers, an increase in women’s stories, collected in vain. Women need change now.”

In the letter, the coalition sets out several steps the Government should take to ensure the National Plan works for women experiencing homelessness. These include:

  • Updating the Government’s definition of rough sleeping so it reflects the ways women experience homelessness, including hidden rough sleeping
  • Funding and supporting the rollout of the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census nationally
  • Expanding priority need in housing legislation to include survivors of rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation
  • Ensuring new government guidance and toolkits on homelessness prevention, outreach and temporary accommodation are gender informed

The organisations say they are keen to work with Government to ensure the National Plan is implemented in a way that recognises women’s experiences and addresses the links between homelessness and violence against women and girls. The letter was signed by nearly 50 organisations from across the homelessness, housing and domestic abuse sectors.