Homeless women in the United States
After President John F. Kennedy signed the community mental health act in 1962 the process of deinstitutionalization began, at which point there was an increase in the unhoused population.
Instead, a woman being homeless may manifest as residential instability, sex work, and/or insecure housing – conditions that are usually not visible to the remaining public.
[7] The rise of conversations around unequal pay and job access led to the realization that women were prevented from acquiring independence by current social norms and structures.
The policies for women in the workplace also changed in this period, as there was deregulation of agencies like the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Administration of Occupational Health and Safety.
[17] Domestic violence is believed to be embedded in a sense of entitlement or privilege, hierarchal beliefs (gender hierarchy), and cultural devaluation of women.
[20] Domestic violence increased during the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States; as families were forced to stay home, women were disproportionately affected.
[23] Trauma-informed approaches have been increasingly implemented throughout the past decade in the US, as studies and surveys have shown the overrepresentation of PTSD and other trauma-related diagnoses in women experiencing homelessness and poverty.
The national database that is being funded and required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is requesting all organizations to participate in HMIS (homeless management information system) which includes domestic violence shelters.
Victims of domestic abuse are more at risk of chronic stress, mental, and physical health problems which can impact employment opportunities and workplace performance.
Oftentimes, women who are survivors of intimate partner violence are stalked, exploited, or harassed by former abusers, leading to further trauma and decreased work productivity.
[31] While emergency shelters aim to ensure safety, many face challenges such as overcrowding, inadequate funding, and limited resources, which can compromise the quality of care.
[37] Research highlights that intensive case management models, such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), not only improve housing stability for vulnerable populations but also reduce overall system costs by decreasing the use of emergency services.
[39] CoC programs aim to connect families to additional resources, such as mental health care, job training, and educational support, to foster self-sufficiency.
[41] However, accessing federal programs like Section 8 often involves lengthy application processes and requires families to meet strict eligibility criteria.
[46] The political stigmatization of the welfare recipient in the 1990s coincided with the defunding of the AFDC, which historically helped financially dependent mothers and families provide for themselves.
It effectively alienated welfare-dependent mothers and women experiencing homelessness and living in poverty in the United States, igniting heated political debates which referred to them as “alligators” who needed “tough love”.
[47] The feminization of poverty resulted in the exponential growth of this demographic, with reports concluding that 60% of poor families with children during the 1990s were single mother households.
Among this demographic, single African American women and mothers were further stigmatized due to generational traumas and unconscious bias passed down from US segregation and slavery.
[48] At the dawn of the 21st century, structural deficits were politically acknowledged as the major cause of US homelessness after decades of discourse suggesting it was a result of personal character flaws such as greed and irresponsibility.
Women dependent on government aid began to argue that the political giants responsible for cutting funding that could have provided better paying jobs, better education, quality insurance, or affordable housing were “born with money in their pocket.”[49] See also: Discrimination against the homeless Women often engage in survival sex to secure essential resources, such as food and housing.
Many homeless women engaging in survival sex find themselves in extremely dangerous situations where they are more prone to abuse, assault, and exploitation due to the inability to negotiate safely.
Many of these women have experienced traumatic life experiences, such as physical and sexual abuse, by intimate partners or family members which may reciprocate as violence towards others.
Many women report needing more assistance with job placement, healthcare, increased efforts of de-stigmatization, and safe housing to reintegrate into society and avoid chances of further criminal offenses.
[57] Many homeless women turn to drug usage to attempt to suppress traumatic memories, however, this behaviour may increase their chances of abuse and cruel treatment.
To avoid this, women are forced to be hyper vigilant of their surroundings and remain isolated in order to protect themselves, especially during the night if they are unable to secure safe nighttime housing.
[63] Homeless women face health challenges such as arthritis, mental illness, substance abuse, victimization, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
[60] Often, unhoused women avoid doctors until it is an emergency, or they are forced to use unconventional resources – such as being participants in a study in order to receive healthcare – which are very risky.
[60] Women and mothers who experience housing insecurity live in a high stress state which is associated with multiple health problems such as hypertension, chronic pain, and asthma.
[80] One study estimated that roughly 64% of homeless women participated in unprotected sex, and 60% are infected by one or more STDs such as chlamydia, herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, syphilis, or trichomonas, with the most prevalent being Human papillomavirus (HPV).
Unprotected heterosexual sex is also the most common way HIV is spread to homeless women in the United States, with intravenous drug abuse and needle sharing followed (3).
