Women, Homelessness and Service Provision 5 and temporary basis) is widely recognised as a dominant feature of women’s homelessness (Kelleher et al., 1992; Edgar and Doherty, 2001; Mayock and Sheridan, 2012a,b). Women who experience housing instability or homelessness are therefore likely to spend prolonged periods moving between unstable housing situations with limited or no support from either formal or informal sources. Explanations for this distinctive response to homelessness among women – which renders them invisible – typically reference women’s awareness of male-dominated spaces as well as the perception that women are more vulnerable to violence and victimisation on the streets (May et al., 2007) and in services that tend to be orientated towards men (Enders-Drägasser, 2001). Women generally, and those with children, in particular, may also conceal their unstable living situations and avoid seeking help because of the perceived stigma and shame associated with the ‘status’ of homelessness (Sahlin and Thörn, 2000; Aldridge, 2001). Wardhaugh (1999: 91-93) argues that the ‘home’ has been ideologically constructed as “an essential foundation of social order” and so “to be homeless brings with it an awareness of absence, a consciousness of difference, of deviation from the norm”. From this perspective, the ‘homeless woman’ is one who has “rejected, or been rejected by, traditional family and domestic structures” in a largely patriarchal society. Consequently, women may feel that they have not ‘met’ the expectations and demands of society and experience a sense of guilt and shame because they are labelled as ‘victims’ or ‘fallen women’ (Edgar and Doherty, 2001). Similarly, Taylor’s (1993) qualitative study of women experiencing housing instability found that the characteristics often associated with homelessness – such as ‘un-cleanliness’ and ‘an un-documented existence’ – can affect women’s self-esteem and personhood, leading to collective experiences of depersonalisation, devaluation and stigmatisation. Findings such as these clearly advance understanding of the intersection between gender and homelessness but may also serve to perpetuate the characterisation of homeless women as passive and ultimately disempowered victims. Indeed, it is only since the 1980s in Ireland, for example, that homeless women have been “recognised as homeless rather than as victims of domestic violence or inadequate or deviant” (O’Sullivan and Higgins, 2001:77). In the Swedish context, Thörn’s (2001: 288) qualitative study of 14 homeless women found that the participants expressed “an ongoing struggle” with negative characterisations of homeless women. The authors argue that “in opposition to the notion that women conceal their homelessness out of shame of their behaviour ... concealment should be seen as a deliberate strategy designed to avoid the stigma of homelessness”. These studies offer critical insights into the gendered nature of homelessness and also highlight the shortcomings of viewing homelessness as simply a housing issue caused only by structural or individual factors (May, 2000; Edgar and Doherty, 2001). As the “political and media agenda concerning homelessness is dominated by those at the most visible end of the homelessness continuum” (Aldridge, 2001: 97), policy responses to the problem of ‘hidden’ homelessness are not prioritised and frequently neglected in political discourses. As Edgar and Doherty (2001:19) put it: The ability of women to hide their homelessness within the supportive confines of their social networks not only demonstrates an effective coping strategy, but, importantly, also has the potential of disguising the full extent of the problem from public gaze and hence as a welfare issue. An understanding of the ways that women attempt to manage, cope with and negotiate homelessness is crucial if protective mechanisms and effective prevention strategies are to be developed in order to tackle homelessness on a broader scale (Baptista, 2010). Indeed, there is increasing recognition across Europe that women’s experiences of homelessness may differ significantly from those of men and that there are significant gender dimensions associated with the problem of homelessness (Edgar and Doherty, 2001; O’Sullivan and Higgins, 2001;
Women, Homelessness and Service Provision
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