Women, Homelessness and Service Provision 9 women reported interactions with staff in services that included being cared for, trusted and empowered. However, a large number also reported dehumanising interactions, that led to feelings of powerlessness, alienation and being judged. The level of trust and power that participants experienced in their interactions with service providers emerged as the characteristics that separated humanising and dehumanising experiences. Women’s perceptions of unequal power relations within service environments were also found to influence their ability and desire to interact and engage with homeless support services. It was therefore apparent that women’s perceptions of how they were viewed and treated within service settings significantly impacted the sense of power and control they felt and retained over their lives. Other issues that homeless women may face, which can have implications for their entry routes to homeless services as well as their experiences and interactions with services and service providers, include: engagement in sex work or ‘survival sex’ practices (Duff et al., 2011); the challenge and stigma associated with motherhood in the context of homelessness and housing instability (O’Sullivan and Higgins, 2001; Pleace et al., 2008; Mayock et al., 2015); unmet health needs (Lewis et al., 2003); and gendered experiences of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence (Mayock and Sheridan, 2012a, b). The findings of the available published research point to problems with the manner in which homeless women perceive their interactions with service providers and to ways in which homeless support and accommodation services can become sites of continued stigma and discrimination for women experiencing housing instability (Robinson, 2003). While the existing research demonstrates that homeless women value the help they receive from services, the nature of homeless service provision may also serve to marginalise women. For example, Hutchinson et al. (2014) found that women were not likely to seek help or access services designed primarily for men, often due to feelings of fear or shame. This research also highlighted the need for gender-sensitive support which takes into account the “complex set of interrelated problems” that homeless women face, particularly in relation to building confidence and motivation, supporting women with children and addressing past and more recent experiences of trauma and abuse (Hutchinson et al., 2014: 34). Equally, however, research suggests that when positive experiences are evident, women value and benefit from feeling supported and respected (Hoffman and Coffey, 2008). A recent report in Canada – which examined homeless women’s perspectives on the causes and consequences of their homelessness as well as the possible solutions to their housing instability – highlighted the crucial importance of the “principles of dignity, autonomy and self-determination” in terms of women being able to successfully engage with service providers (Paradis et al., 2012:11). The women in this study stressed the need for services to develop frameworks based on empowerment rather than control, supervision and surveillance, which can lead to the marginalisation of women within homeless service systems. Significantly, the women equated safe environments with non-judgemental settings and places where rules and procedures are reasonable, consistent and serve to empower rather than constrain them. Similarly, the homeless mothers in Sznajder-Murray and Slesnick’s (2011) study expressed a desire to be understood and for positive support to enable them to achieve personal goals, highlighting the importance of having trust in the service providers they encounter, particularly in relation to confidentiality and the disclosure of personal problems and challenges.
Women, Homelessness and Service Provision
To see the actual publication please follow the link above