International Women’s Day: addressing homelessness, poverty and mental ill health inequalities

This International Women’s Day, we’re calling for more to be done about gender inequality in relation to homelessness, poverty and mental ill health.

Women experiencing these issues face bigger barriers to accessing support, and to finding safety and stability, than their male counterparts.

Porchlight has already done a lot of work around women’s homelessness. But more must be done about this, and poverty and mental ill health, to ensure all women have somewhere safe to call home and the chance of a positive future.

Rough sleeping is dangerous for everyone but women experiencing homelessness face frightening risks of violence and abuse. As a result, they try to stay hidden from view and are less likely to connect with people that can help.

The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census found that:

• 58% of women sleeping rough had experienced domestic abuse
• 35% had been sexually assaulted while homeless.

Government figures estimate that women make up 15% of the rough sleeping population, but the actual number is likely much higher.

Complex histories of violent relationships and abuse, sometimes stemming from childhood, can result in pattern-forming behaviour.

This means women may enter into abusive relationships on the street for security and companionship, or to get a roof over their heads. One woman said: "I’ve had to do things with men that I didn’t want to do in exchange for somewhere to stay for a night."

It often leads to self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Drugs and alcohol are used to cope with the fear and block out the pain. This makes the journey out of homelessness complicated and challenging.

We developed services and schemes for women following our own research into the challenges they face.

This includes specialist workers for women and a ‘rapid rehousing fund’ which enables us to help women into safe accommodation quickly so they can escape the dangers of life on the streets.

Because pregnancy and motherhood bring additional challenges for homeless women, we have specialist homelessness accommodation for pregnant women and mothers with young children.

We’ve also developed a toolkit for professionals who work with homeless women.

More generally, we help women to better manage their mental health. This isn’t just important for women experiencing homelessness – it prevents women with homes from reaching crisis point and ending up on the streets.

Porchlight does this as part of Live Well Kent & Medway, a network of organisations working together to offer free mental health support, including counselling and practical tools for managing anxiety and depression.

An example of this work in action: we’re helping a domestic abuse survivor to navigate her new life by addressing the financial, emotional and physical effects of what she’s been through.

We've been supporting her as part of the Live Well Kent & Medway network. We helped her access a domestic abuse support service, have been delivering food parcels and are helping with benefit applications that will get her back on her feet. She’s been given a splint for an arm injury (caused by her abuser), paid for by a grant we helped her to access.

She’s now in a much better place – emotionally and financially: “My support worker really helped when I was struggling and in a time of need. They were very supportive, took away some of the worries I had and helped me move forward. I’m very thankful.”

LGBTQ+ women experiencing homelessness face unique challenges. Many have been rejected by their families, discriminated against or encountered violence simply for being who they are. Trans women in particular struggle to access safe accommodation due to a lack of awareness and appropriate services.

The BeYou Project is our service for LGBTQ+ young people. It gives them safe, non-judgemental spaces to be themselves, along with:

• advice and emotional support for LGBTQ+ related issues
• guidance about accessing healthcare
• advice for parents and carers who are struggling to accept their child’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

The truth is that LGBTQ+ people are significantly more likely to experience homelessness due to family rejection or stigma. By getting the right support in place at a young age, we can give them the chance of a brighter future.

With your help, we can ensure every woman gets the support she needs – whether that’s related to homelessness, poverty or mental ill health.

For International Women’s Day, please consider making a donation, signing up to one of our fundraising events or becoming a Porchlight volunteer.