OVER 40 per cent of the Mid West’s homeless population are women, according to a Limerick homeless charity.
Figures released by Limerick-based homeless organisation Novas show that over 40 per cent of the homeless population in the Mid West counties of Limerick and Clare are women.
Women who experience homelessness also have a higher risk of premature death than their male counterparts, with the median age of death for homeless women at 36, compared to 42 for men, data from the Health Research Board shows.
Novas says that European evidence shows that women are more likely to be among ‘hidden homeless’, which refers to those sleeping in cars, on couches, or on the floor at the home of family or friends, rather than accessing traditional homeless services.
The European study also found that the actual number of homeless women might be even higher than official data suggests based on women’s reluctance to access homeless services.
Novas CEO Una Deasy said that this International Women’s Day, the needs of women experiencing homelessness need to be taken into consideration and that more women-specific services should be provided.
Ms Deasy said there had been “an incremental rise in the number of women experiencing homelessness in recent years, both as single adults as the head of single-parent families who cannot access accommodation through the private rented market.”
“These women face immense challenges in accessing the housing and supports they need. It is particularly difficult for women whose children no longer live with them because they are homeless. This causes deep and enduring trauma among our clients,” she said.
Ms Deasy says that the importance of “services that understand the needs of women who are homeless” can’t be underestimated, and stressed the need for “the creation of sustainable pathways out of homelessness for women so they can live safely in long-term housing”.
