Gender and homelessness

This paper emerges from experiences of using participatory visual methods in my own on-going PhD research with women experiencing homelessness and housing issues, and draws upon the methodological issues encountered along the way. In recent years, the visual has become increasingly acknowledged as a central part of geographical inquiry. Emphases on the multi-sensory and emotional aspects of experience are of significant value to geographic research and knowledge. For feminist geography, in particular, participatory visual methods hold much potential. Compatible with feminist geography's concerns with demystifying voyeuristic, distanced, and disembodied claims to knowledge and insistence on the importance of the personal in research relationships, participatory visual methods may offer feminist ways of doing research. Some have cited their potential to re-position the research participant as 'expert' and to decentre the usual research hierarchies in which the researcher imposes her meanings on the findings. However, assumptions of a 'real' reversal of power risks falling dangerously close to mythologies of 'hygienic research' which presents over-simplistic accounts of the research process. Here, I argue that much can be gained if participatory visual methods are to engage with debates at the heart of critical feminist geographies, with a specific focus on research relationships, and the exploration of the complexity of women's lived experiences.

A distinct Europe-wide problem of migrant homelessness has
become increasingly apparent. However, the available evidence base on migrant homelessness remains relatively weak and there is a particular dearth of research on the homeless experiences of migrant women. Internationally, research has established an association between gender-based violence and homelessness among women, including migrant women. However, the dynamics of this association, as well as the range of issues that surround it,
remain largely unexplored. This paper presents findings from biographical interviews with seventeen migrant women who are part of a larger study of homelessness among women in Ireland. It specifically aims to explore the relationship between the experience of gender-based violence and homelessness, including migrant women’s responses to their abusive home situations,
their interactions with services, and their perspectives on their situations. The
findings highlight the structural underpinnings of the relationship between
gender-based violence and homelessness. These span economic, social, legal
and cultural domains, and impact women’s responses to violence/abuse and
to the systems of intervention designed to meet their needs. The consequences
for migrant women are multi-faceted, affecting their ability to leave
abusive home situations, access appropriate services, and exit homelessness.
The implications for structures and services, particularly those with responsibility
for meeting the needs of migrant women, are discussed.

This report is based on a rapid review of the available evidence and research on the experience of sleeping rough among women. The report looks at the collection and analysis of statistical data, from both survey and administrative sources and the qualitative information collected through interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic and sociological research. The main focus is on the UK, but the review encompasses data and information from around the world.

This Research Paper presents selected findings from a primarily qualitative study of homeless women in Ireland. The study set out to conduct an in-depth examination of the lives and experiences of homeless women with specific attention to their homeless ‘pathways’, that is, their entry routes to homelessness, the homeless experience itself and, possibly, their exit routes from homelessness. Sixty women, seventeen of them migrant women, were interviewed in depth for the purpose of the study. This paper
focuses specifically on selected findings arising from the stories of the migrant homeless women.

This Research Paper presents selected findings from a primarily qualitative study of homeless women in Ireland. The study set out to conduct a detailed examination of the lives and experiences of homeless women with specific attention to their homeless ‘pathways’, that is, their entry routes to homelessness, the homeless experience itself and, possibly, their exit routes from homelessness. Sixty women were interviewed in depth for the purpose of the study. This paper explores the women’s routes or
‘journeys’ to homelessness.

Research in Ireland and internationally has documented a strong
association between homelessness and incarceration. Nonetheless, the dynamics of this relationship are poorly understood. Although research suggests that the experience of incarceration among the homeless may have gender-specific dimensions, women have been largely ignored in the literature, which has tended to focus on the male experience. This paper examines the incarceration experiences of a sub-sample of women who are participants in a larger biographical study of women’s homelessness in Ireland. It charts their paths to incarceration and explores women’s perspectives on prison as well as their experiences post-release. Rather than a discrete life event, incarceration emerged as an extension of an institutional circuit that served to exacerbate their marginalisation and diminish their prospects of securing stable housing.

Le statistiche ci dicono che le persone senza fissa dimora sono prevalentemente uomini. Per ogni nove uomini che vivono per strada, c'è una donna che condivide questa stessa condizione, anche se il fenomeno riguarda un numero sempre maggiore. Ma chi sono le donne che si trovano oggi a vivere senza una casa? Che età hanno, che lingua parlano? La curiosità sorge innanzitutto perché sono molto meno visibili degli uomini; durante la stagione fredda, per fortuna, non se ne incontrano proprio. Una breve incursione nella realtà dei dormitori, a contatto con gli operatori del Servizio mobile dell'associazione Amici di Piazza Grande, aiuta a capire quali e quante sono le nuove figure di donne senza fissa dimora.