Lynne McMordie, Research Fellow, I-SPHERE
Violence against women and homelessness
This seminar will explore the intersection between violence against women and homelessness, drawing on recent qualitative research that illustrates how abuse by intimate partners, family members, and strangers can lead to both acute and chronic housing insecurity. Many women reported being forced from their homes – sometimes fleeing multiple times – even when they held legal tenancy or ownership rights. Systemic failures, including inconsistent police responses, inaccessible or weakly enforced protection orders, and exposure to further violence within homelessness services, further entrenched these cycles of violence and homelessness. Women also described severe mental health impacts, such as anxiety, depression, and suicidality, with some initiating or escalating substance use as a coping mechanism. This functioned to compound barriers to safety and support and exposed them to the most harmful forms of homelessness, including rough sleeping. In this seminar, we will examine these findings and their implications for policy and practice.