GBV and Women's Homelessness: Traveling around in a community where they’re still safer if they make themselves, and their needs, invisible.
The reality is that for the women, trans*, two-spirit and gender-diverse people living without access to their own safe housing in Waterloo Region, their day often consists of multiple experiences of gender-based violence.
(Gender-Based violence includes racism, transphobia, homophobia, and verbal, emotional, sexual, financial, spiritual and physical harm.)
In 2021, the YW Kitchener-Waterloo supported almost 1000 women, trans*, two-spirited, and gender diverse individuals experiencing homelessness. Partnering with Community Justice Initiatives and Coalition of Muslim Woman, we sought to understand the correlations between women, trans*, two-spirit and gender-diverse people’s experiences of homelessness and gender-based violence.
Of the 48 participants in this research, all of whom were currently or recently experiencing homelessness, 96% said they experienced verbal violence on any given day.
Illustrated, this could look like cat-calling if they look overly feminine, or hate speech if they don’t. Sheltering in a building full of other people who are also in crisis, it can sound like emotional, pain-filled statements heard and recycled between people who are all suffering the loss of their families, friends and autonomy. It can also be harsh things said by passerby’s on the street, or on the bus, while they’re traveling around in a community where they’re still safer if they make themselves, and their needs, invisible.
“Don’t tell people you’re homeless.” one participant shared when asked to give advice to someone who would be new to these circumstances. “It’s like giving them permission to take advantage of you.”
54% of research participants disclosed experiencing physical harm. These range from pushes and shoves, to being spat at, or having things thrown at them. These numbers also include physical assaults, or bodily violations as insecurity leads people with few resources to be less and less generous with the sharing of those resources, and more desperate in the gathering of them.
The painful reality is that while each of these stories is unique, the themes have been heard across the decades by front-line staff.
Safety, to paraphrase Gabor Mate, is about the depth of connection, and not the absence of a threat.
And so, in recognition that they cannot neutralize the threat their homelessness and perceived gender identity present to them, 41% of respondents said that they have made connections to people who are known to be violent, or used violence, to keep themselves safe.
Clarifying that even in a region known for development and innovation, our failing systems contribute to continued experiences of gender-based violence, and amplify them as people lose their shelter, and the ability to close and lock their front door.
This article includes pieces from our research report: “Don’t tell them you’re homeless.” Experiences of gender-based violence among women experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region.