Friday, July 25, 2008
Better Off in a Shelter? A Year of Homelessness and Housing for Immigrant, Non-Status, and Canadian-born Mothers
On July 24, ACTEW's Pamela Seto attended the launch of a new report on housing issues for mothers living in Canada.
A lunch and learn based on the report took place at the YWCA Woodlawn site in Toronto. The panelists included the authors -- Emily Paradis, Sylvia Novac, Monica Sarty, and David Hulchanski – as well as women from the study and social service practitioners.
There is a general consensus among practitioners that the victims of homelessness are increasingly women and their children as opposed to men, who have been traditionally viewed as the homeless. In reality, men only make up 3% of the homelessness population in Canada.
The report is based on a longitudinal study that looked at 91 women-led homeless families living in shelters. These women were divided into two groups:
(1) homeless immigrant and refugee families, and
(2) Canadian-born homeless families.
The study explores the intersectionality of homelessness by looking at how race, gender, systematic discrimination, violence and other factors can prevent women from finding affordable housing. For instance, it is found that very often a woman’s lone income from employment or social assistance is simply insufficient to support a family and find housing.
In particular, non-status immigrant women were a main focus of the discussion as they are highly susceptible to sexual abuse and exploitation due to their status. Disturbing accounts of women being sexual abused by landlords, employers and acquaintances were used to illustrate the extreme vulnerability these women face living in Canada.
Recommendations to address homelessness were also discussed. It has been brought to light that Canada is the only western country that does not have a formalized housing policy, which demonstrates that on a macro level, there is still a lot of work to be done before homelessness ceases to be a problem. Along with creating a federal housing policy, improved access to childcare is imperative for women to gain employment as current childcare is not structured to meet the needs of low-income women.
Practitioners from women and family shelters are also increasingly aware that shelters are no longer just an emergency measure, but are becoming permanent solutions for some women. As a result, additional social services such as extended job training and counseling are being implemented to meet the needs of this marginalized population to gain economic independence and prevent re-entry into shelters. In addition, social service providers and practitioners are seeing the need to act upon preventative measures that include better supportive housing that prevent women and children from becoming homeless in the first place.
Overall, this study, the first of its kind in Canada, is a significant contribution to understanding the intersectionality of oppression that status immigrant, non-status migrant and Canadian-born women and children face in the midst of homelessness.
Read the report: http://www.urbancentre.utoronto.ca/redirects/rpaper213.html
A lunch and learn based on the report took place at the YWCA Woodlawn site in Toronto. The panelists included the authors -- Emily Paradis, Sylvia Novac, Monica Sarty, and David Hulchanski – as well as women from the study and social service practitioners.
There is a general consensus among practitioners that the victims of homelessness are increasingly women and their children as opposed to men, who have been traditionally viewed as the homeless. In reality, men only make up 3% of the homelessness population in Canada.
The report is based on a longitudinal study that looked at 91 women-led homeless families living in shelters. These women were divided into two groups:
(1) homeless immigrant and refugee families, and
(2) Canadian-born homeless families.
The study explores the intersectionality of homelessness by looking at how race, gender, systematic discrimination, violence and other factors can prevent women from finding affordable housing. For instance, it is found that very often a woman’s lone income from employment or social assistance is simply insufficient to support a family and find housing.
In particular, non-status immigrant women were a main focus of the discussion as they are highly susceptible to sexual abuse and exploitation due to their status. Disturbing accounts of women being sexual abused by landlords, employers and acquaintances were used to illustrate the extreme vulnerability these women face living in Canada.
Recommendations to address homelessness were also discussed. It has been brought to light that Canada is the only western country that does not have a formalized housing policy, which demonstrates that on a macro level, there is still a lot of work to be done before homelessness ceases to be a problem. Along with creating a federal housing policy, improved access to childcare is imperative for women to gain employment as current childcare is not structured to meet the needs of low-income women.
Practitioners from women and family shelters are also increasingly aware that shelters are no longer just an emergency measure, but are becoming permanent solutions for some women. As a result, additional social services such as extended job training and counseling are being implemented to meet the needs of this marginalized population to gain economic independence and prevent re-entry into shelters. In addition, social service providers and practitioners are seeing the need to act upon preventative measures that include better supportive housing that prevent women and children from becoming homeless in the first place.
Overall, this study, the first of its kind in Canada, is a significant contribution to understanding the intersectionality of oppression that status immigrant, non-status migrant and Canadian-born women and children face in the midst of homelessness.
Read the report: http://www.urbancentre.utoronto.ca/redirects/rpaper213.html
Labels: Meetings_and_Events, Resources_and_Research
