Single Homeless Project welcomes the Government’s new £442 million commitment, including recognition of the hidden realities of women’s rough sleeping.
The plans include a commitment to offer everyone sleeping rough a route off the streets by Christmas, more than 1,000 settled homes over the next three years, and new guidance for local authorities on providing safe and accessible support for women.
Crucially, the Government has recognised that women’s rough sleeping is often hidden and underrepresented in official statistics, and that women sleeping rough face significant risks of violence, abuse and exploitation.
This is an important shift.
Research from the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census, led by Single Homeless Project and Solace, has repeatedly shown that traditional approaches to identifying rough sleeping significantly underestimate the number of women affected. Women often sleep in less visible places, including on public transport, in hospitals or other public spaces, and may move between rough sleeping and unsafe or precarious accommodation. Our latest research found women experiencing rough sleeping at rates at least ten times higher than Government data suggests.
The Census has called for Government to improve how women’s rough sleeping is recognised and recorded, give councils the resources and guidance to collect better data, fund safe services for women, and connect its response to homelessness with its work to tackle violence against women and girls.
Liz Rutherfoord, Chief Executive of Single Homeless Project, said:
“This announcement is a huge step forward in ending rough sleeping for everyone, including the thousands of women in England whose rough sleeping has previously been overlooked by successive governments.
“Women’s rough sleeping is hidden, transient and intermittent, and almost always interlinked with violence and abuse. The Prime Minister’s new funding announcement and guidance to local authorities is unprecedented. It finally puts a spotlight on women’s rough sleeping and urges local authorities to ensure that their efforts to get everyone in don’t leave women behind.
“Linking the commitment to end rough sleeping to the pledge to halve violence against women and girls is essential. One is not possible without the other.”
We know what can be achieved when there is the political will, funding and determination to act. But getting people off the streets this winter must be the beginning, not the end.
For this commitment to succeed, people need somewhere safe and appropriate to go, followed by the secure housing and support they need to rebuild their lives. For women in particular, that means services designed around their experiences and safety, including access to women-only accommodation and specialist, trauma-informed support.
We look forward to working with Government, local authorities and our partners across London and beyond to turn this commitment into lasting change, and to make sure everyone is included.
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