Domestic Violence: A Cause of Homelessness in Women

"As soon as we moved into this house, you think you can have your way. You are my wife and I tell you what you can do and what you can't do." This kind of statement is typical of what a battered woman knows to be the only truth in her household. Domestic violence is greatly on the rise and is one of the leading causes of homelessness among women in today's society.

Rather than approach domestic violence as a direct cause of homelessness, one might hope to understand how such violence could help create the circumstances that might make a woman more susceptible to homelessness. Domestic violence and poverty may intersect with other issues to produce the circumstances that often leave women no other choice but to seek temporary shelter for the short-term, and therefore remain precariously housed.

Homelessness is defined as a person who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence, and has a primary night time residence that is:

A) Supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations.

B) An institution that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized

C) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

(Stewart B. McKinney Act, 42 U.S.C.; 11301, et seq. (1994).

According to the McKinney Act (1994), this definition usually includes those people who face imminent eviction form their current form of shelter.

Domestic violence, or battering, is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship through violence and other forms of abuse. The batterer uses acts of violence and a series of behaviors, including intimidation, threats, psychological abuse, a...

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...ty for increasing the likelihood that women will become homeless. Female single parent families rose form 23.7 % of all families in poverty in 1960 to 52.6 % of all families in poverty in the mid 1990's. (Hagen, 1994). As a result of historical growth in women's poverty and female headed family homelessness, it has been increasingly important for research to focus on the unique sets of issues and problems that women's homelessness presents.

Bibliography:

1.) Somers, Amy. Domestic Violence Survivors, Homelessness: A National Perspective. 1992.

2.) National Research Council. Understanding Violence Against Women, Washington, DC: National Academy of Press. 1996.

3.) Alexander, J. (1999, May 30). Homeless women blame domestic violence. BBC News, pp. C3.

4.) Hagen, J. (1996). Gender and Homelessness. Social Work 32(July/August). 312-316.