Women, Homelessness and Service Provision 17 Pathways ‘Into’ Homelessness The events and circumstances surrounding the women’s first experiences of homelessness were complex and diverse. Common themes to emerge from their narratives of becoming homeless included: experiences of poverty and deprivation during childhood; histories of State care; experiences of domestic violence and/or child sexual abuse; parental and personal substance use; and gender-based violence across the life course.4 In general, the women reported two or more challenging or traumatic early life experiences and these overlapping adversities had a negative impact on their lives generally and on their housing situations specifically. Duration of Homelessness The duration of the women’s homelessness varied. However, as demonstrated in Table 2, a large number (n = 14) reported lengthy homeless histories that spanned 11 years or more. Seven women stated their homeless histories extended over a period of between 6 and 10 years. A further fourteen reported that they had been homeless for between 6 months and 2 years while twelve reported that they had been homeless for less than 6 months.5 TAbLE 2: The duration of women’s homeless histories 6 months 12 s e s s 6 months - 2 years 14 l e m o 2-5 years 13 h f o n o 6-10 years 7 t r u D 11+ years 14 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Number of women (n=60) Returns to Homelessness Thirty women (50%) reported multiple entry points to homelessness (i.e. they had experienced homelessness on multiple occasions). In these instances, women had frequently exited homelessness temporarily (to private rented housing, long-term supported housing or the home of a partner, for example) and subsequently returned to a situation of housing instability or homelessness. Many of the women had also exited to institutional settings such as prisons, acute or psychiatric hospitals or residential drug/alcohol treatment facilities for periods, but subsequently returned to homeless services. These patterns of repeat homelessness suggest that “for a large number, homelessness was cyclical and recurring” (Mayock and Sheridan, 2012a: 4). 4 For a more detailed discussion about the women’s pathways ‘into’ homelessness, see Mayock and Sheridan (2012a,b). 5 The authors note that “the reported number of years spent homeless was not necessarily consecutive; many of the women had moved to more stable housing at some point but subsequently returned to homelessness” (Mayock and Sheridan, 2012a: 4).
Women, Homelessness and Service Provision
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