Gendering Women's Homelessness

The importance of developing gender-sensitive policy responses to women's homelessness has emerged in recent literature on homelessness. To achieve this, policy responses must recognise the diverse and complex needs of all homeless women, including those accompanied or unaccompanied by their children. This article seeks to identify the extent to which gender is recognised in definitions, explanations and research on homelessness. It does this by offering a gendered analysis of women’s homelessness, and by looking specifically at homeless mothers who are unaccompanied by their children.