1. EMPOWERING WOMEN ROUGH SLEEPERS (WRS) TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM VIOLENCE ON THE STREETS (PHASE II) Professor Kate Moss Dr Martin Wright Paramjit Singh University of Wolverhampton

2. “The cure for poverty has a name in fact, it is called the empowerment of women” Christopher Hitchens

3. Moss, K., Singh, P., & Wright, M. (2013) Women Rough Sleepers and Domestic Violence: A European Study. Policy Press (forthcoming)  70 – 100% homeless as a result of Domestic Violence in the UK, Sweden, Hungary and Spain  Problem of comorbidity  Little / no women only provision  Invisibility / lack of engagement with outreach www.womenroughsleepers.eu/

4. Methodologies: Our research is shaped by “Grounded Theory” and “Ethnographic Qualitative Interviewing.’ Glaser & Strauss (1967) & Strauss (1992) Carried out in the UK, Hungary and Slovenia Extent and nature of violence against homeless / roofless women Measure & tackle it including examples of best practice Empowerment of women Education and the role of families

5. Current situation in UK ‘An estimated 2,414 people were sleeping rough in England on any one night in 2013, an increase of 37 per cent on 2010. Local authority budgets have been squeezed under the Coalition, making shelters and schemes aimed at preventing homelessness increasingly vulnerable. Unprecedented cuts to local authority budgets imposed by the coalition mean many councils have been forced to strip back services aimed at preventing homelessness even further. Two years ago, Nottinghamshire Council Council, then Tory-controlled, cut its Supporting People budget by 65 per cent. Now under Labour rule, the council is proposing a further cut of £3.2m for housing related services including homeless services. A budget that was £27m in 2004, could amount to just £9m by 2017. Councillor Muriel Weisz, chair of Nottinghamshire County Council’s adult social care and health committee, said: “Unfortunately, the impact of the Government cuts on our budget means we must prioritise our statutory services – those we must do – over discretionary services such as the homeless support services.” Shadow Housing Minister, Emma Reynolds MP, said: “It is appalling that on David Cameron’s watch the number of people sleeping rough has soared by more than a third. “The Prime Minister once said homelessness and rough sleeping were a disgrace. But warm words are cold comfort to those sleeping rough if you fail to act.“The Government was warned its policies risked increasing homelessness and rough sleeping but these warnings fell on deaf ears.” London had 543 rough sleepers when the Government head count was conducted, accounting for 22 per cent of the national figure. However, data collected by the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) suggests that overall in 2012-13, there were 6,437 people in London contacted by outreach teams or who accessed accommodation for rough sleepers.’ SOURCE: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/down-and-out-in-austerity-britain- number-of-roughsleepers-soars-by-37-per-cent-9152908.htmlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/down-and-out-in-austerity-britain- number-of-roughsleepers-soars-by-37-per-cent-9152908.html

7. First impressions: UK WRS Women with children likely to be prioritised More at risk from certain causes of homelessness /hidden homelessness / invisible homelessness or rooflessness Long waiting times for benefits 1 in 10 homeless in the UK are women Reduction in services targeted at women Only one project for sex workers in the UK Methods of counting flawed & inconsistent Some work with empowerment ongoing

8. UK: BREAKDOWN OF ETHNICITY OF WRS INTERVIEWED

9. UK: REASON FOR WOMEN BECOMING ROUGH SLEEPERS

10. UK: PLACES WHERE WRS SLEEP AT NIGHT-TIME

11. UK: VIOLENCE EXPERIENCED BY WRS

12. UK: HEALTH OF WRS

13. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: SLOVENIAN WRS No official acknowledgement of the problem of homeless / roofless / rough sleeping women Family specific problems, including; Specific problems for older women who are widowed Specific problems for younger women who become homeless as a result of abuse

14. SLOVENIA: Ethnicity of WRS interviewed

15. SLOVENIA: PLACES WHERE WRS SLEEP AT NIGHT-TIME

16. SLOVENIA: TYPES OF VIOLENCE EXPERIENCED BY WRS

17. SLOVENIA: HEALTH OF WRS

18. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HUNGARIAN WRS October 2013 homeless clearance policy framed within the Hungarian Constitution based on the Hungarian Social Act 2011 Illegal to remove unwanted items from the street World Heritage sites ban Politically disenfranchised due to voting restrictions

19. THE ONGOING CRIMINALISATION OF POVERTY AND HOMELESSNESS UK – clearance takes place using the Vagrancy Act 1824 Impact upon citizenship rights Criminal offence to sleep on the street or to beg Social exclusion should be tackled at its root causes not by criminalisation Merely compounds the problem and frustrates the work of support agencies Emphasises the need for recognition that root causes lie within families, the empowerment of women and an agenda to leave no-one behind.

20. THE CONTINUING PROBLEM OF WRS IN EUROPE  It is a social problem inextricably linked to poverty  Social stigma is one of the main barriers to finding solutions  Women are particularly vulnerable; problems of comorbidity; invisibility; lack of engagement; victims of abuse but do not define themselves as such  Require distinct intervention, female only provision & access to services  http://www.womenroughsleepers2.eu/

21. CONTACT DETAILS Professor Kate Moss Email: K.Moss@wlv.ac.ukK.Moss@wlv.ac.uk Dr Martin Wright Email: martin.wright@wlv.ac.ukmartin.wright@wlv.ac.uk Paramjit Singh Email: P.Singh6@wlv.ac.ukP.Singh6@wlv.ac.uk http://www.womenroughsleepers2.eu/