56 Simon Communities in Ireland reside alongside men in service settings. Opinion was divided, however, on the role of women-only services, with some practitioners arguing that more women-only services are needed and that these services must be staffed by female workers. Others, on the other hand, emphasised the importance of male role models within services targeting homeless women. It is perhaps important to note that international commentary on service provision for homeless women who have experienced gender- based violence is also divided on the question of what safe spaces for women should ‘look like’ and how they ought to be staffed (FEANTSA, 2007). This lack of consensus points to a need for further research on this issue. However, it is clearly important that women who do not feel comfortable to share living spaces with men have the option of accessing a women-only service. Women need to be consulted on this matter at the point(s) when they seek service support. Other unmet needs included a lack of couples accommodation which, in some cases, resulted in women (and men) opting for precarious alternatives – such as sleeping rough – that further jeopardised their health and well-being and served to entrench them further in homelessness. This research also highlights the distress experienced by ‘single’ women who have children in State or relative care and who were acutely aware of the stigma of ‘spoilt’ motherhood. These women’s movements were in fact frequently driven by their efforts to find ways to rebuild relationships with their children (Mayock et al., 2015), although most did not feel supported by services to maintain contact with their families. More than anything, the women in this study articulated a need for stable housing. They were also aware that their access to secure and sustainable housing was highly restricted, particularly as their ‘careers’ in homelessness progressed. The lack of appropriate housing options for women leads to the gridlocking of emergency accommodation services and also promotes their use as long-term housing rather than as temporary arrangements. As stated earlier, the capacity of emergency hostels to interrupt the dynamics of ongoing homelessness appears to be limited (Busch- Geertsema and Sahlin, 2007; May, 2000), thus raising questions about their role in perpetuating trajectories of long-term homelessness. Concluding Comments The intersection of gender and homelessness is strongly apparent from the findings presented in this report. Homeless women clearly share experiences with their male counterparts but, equally and critically, women have specific needs related to their past experiences and to the mechanisms and processes that will ultimately support them to access and maintain stable housing. Services that are modelled on the male experience will, in a majority of cases, not serve women well and may inadvertently lead to further marginalisation, trauma and distress. The research base on homeless women, both internationally and in Ireland, is relatively weak but increasingly points to the need for gender-sensitive strategies and approaches to ensuring that women move to stable housing at the earliest possible juncture.
Women, Homelessness and Service Provision
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