‘Unhoused, unsafe’: Shining a light on NZ’s 57,000 homeless women

Published by The Post on 5 December 2024.

Read the article here: ‘Unhoused, unsafe’: Shining a light on NZ’s 57,000 homeless women | The Post

Women make up more than half of Aotearoa’s homeless population but there are no national policies or frameworks specifically aimed at women who are unhoused.

The housing system was “effectively flying gender blind”, which led to a new report by the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness, launched on Thursday.

“The world we currently live in is one where too many of our women are unhoused, unnoticed, and unsafe,” according to the report Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga – Understanding Barriers and Solutions to Women's Homelessness in Aotearoa, commissioned by the coalition.

“For women, there's a lot of invisibility,” coalition project director, Victoria Crockford, said.

It aimed to fill a “massive gap” in research and evidence about women’s homelessness, providing insight into the experiences of some of the 57,576 women experiencing extreme housing deprivation in Aotearoa, according to 2023 Census data.

At the time of the 2023 Census, 112, 496 people, or 2.3% of the population were estimated to be severely housing deprived, women making up over 51%. It was an overall increase from 99,462 or 2.1% since 2018.

The report included interviews by Ihi Research with 18 women who had experienced homelessness and nine kaimahi (workers) from housing support providers, as well as data analysis by Taylor Fry.

Aotearoa’s 51% of women’s homelessness, compared with 44% in Australia and 27% in Canada.

Victoria Crockford, project director of the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness, says women’s homelessness is often invisible and they face unique challenges that need to be addressed.

But currently, there was no national strategy to address homelessness after the Homeless Action Plan was halted by the coalition Government.

Peoples’ ideas about homelessness needed to expand beyond “the single man sleeping rough on the streets” to truly address high rates of homelessness in Aotearoa, Crockford said.

Women were often more transient and invisible, couch surfing or, at times, exchanging sex for a bed.

One woman said she was used by “friends” to have a roof over her head.

“I had to give them sex … and if I didn't give them sex, they kicked me out.”

More than a third of homeless women identified as Māori, with wāhine Māori disproportionately impacted by homelessness.

Single mothers, especially Māori, faced more discrimination and barriers to housing, employment, and support services while there was also a rise in homelessness among older women because of widowhood, divorce, and financial insecurity.

Women make up 50.5% of Aotearoa’s homeless population and yet there are no specific policies targeting the unique challenges and experiences of women needed to truly address homelessness in Aotearoa, the coalition says.

Mass confiscation of Māori land through Crown policies and laws had detrimental impacts on wealth, cultural identity and employment opportunities, directly affecting the ability of Māori to own homes and land today, the report said.

Women were more likely than men to have children in their care with high numbers on sole parent benefits, but clearly the benefits were not enough to provide adequate support, Crockford said. “It is a condition we can point to that's holding these women in poverty.”

There were not enough permanent housing options which also met the needs of different women including older women, people with disabilities and those with children, she said.

One older Māori woman, Kiri, became disconnected from her whenua after struggling with health concerns and being unable to find appropriate housing where she lived in rural Aotearoa.

Women were less likely to interact with the criminal justice system as an offender than men and more likely to report a victimisation. Many had experiences of domestic and sexual abuse, the report found.

Homelessness significantly impacted women's physical and mental health, making them further vulnerable to violence, substance abuse, and mental illness.

Consistency in advice and support as well as trauma-informed responses were key, Crockford said.

There is a growing number of older women experiencing housing deprivation, highlighting the need for urgent action to address the wide range of women in need of housing support, Crockford says.

Low rates of women having driver’s licences was a clear opportunity for “a direct and swift government and community intervention” to support women experiencing homelessness, she said.

It could increase employment opportunities, access to education, healthcare and a sense of independence and empowerment.

“When you're psychologically safe or you feel empowered through having something like a driver's licence, it’s actually a really big step towards being able to feel positively about participating in society again.”

Crockford hoped for a national women’s homelessness response plan and specific budget in housing, addressing the unique challenges faced by different women.

“We want this research to be our line in the sand as we move towards that.”

The report also recommended government agencies ensured policies and framework addressed the needs of women; creating targeted prevention and early intervention programmes as well as support for women at risk of homelessness – particularly older women facing financial insecurity, single mothers, and women experiencing domestic violence; and robust monitoring and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the interventions and policies.

Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says there’s no quick fix to the housing crisis but the Government is making progress.

Minister for Women Nicola Grigg, a keynote speaker at the launch event in Parliament, said there was no quick fix to the housing crisis but the Government was beginning and continuing to make good progress.

She pointed to the decrease in people in emergency housing and the shorter social housing waitlist – though she was met with sounds of disapproval as some experts in the room highlighted the increased tightening of access to begin with.

Grigg also spoke about the increased budget to build social housing, the launching of the Gender Pay Gap Calculator toolkit and the second Te Aorerekura action plan to eliminate family violence and sexual violence.