A new research project shows women experiencing homelessness in Canada are largely invisible and falling through major gaps in support systems -- and into dangerous situations.
, says the scope is dramatically underestimated because women are more likely to rely on precarious and sometimes dangerous support, such as by sleeping on couches or trading sex for housing.
"The ways we measure homelessness in Canada often look really at just visible homelessness in the street, but women's homelessness is really distinct," said Kaitlin Schwan, senior researcher at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, which was involved in the report. The pandemic then caused a strain on existing homelessness resources, with some shelters having to reduce services or close due to public health and physical distancing rules.
"They are going to be facing a risk of eviction that maybe they hadn't before, so we're at risk of having this whole new wave of women across Canada who are becoming homeless for the first time in the context of a system that was already overburdened before COVID." The report says women who do access emergency shelters are often further harmed by bureaucratic policies, including the prospect of losing custody of their children.
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