Women and homelessness

Abstract

Serendipity was the focus of my very first review when I joined Qualitative Social Work at the end of 2015 as the European Review Essay Editor. I reflected on the part serendipity had played in my own social work career (Morriss, 2016). In her book, What's the Use (2019), Sara Ahmed tells us that 'to follow something, it first needs to capture your attention ' (p. 6). This Editorial reflects an issue that captured my attention this year after attending a series of separate events. These three events focused on women and homelessness, including women who have had their child removed by the state. As some of you will know, the latter is the focus of my own work, which began with the happenchance of Professor Alys Young appointing Professor Karen Broadhurst as my mentor when we all worked at the University of Manchester in 2014. Now based at Lancaster University, Karen and I now work together on the project, Keeping Mothers in Mind.The first event was a 'Pause and Learn' webinar on Housing held on 23 January 2024 organised by the organisation, Pause. Pause are a UK charity 'that works to improve the lives of women who have hador are at risk of havingmore than one child removed from their care, and the services and systems that affect them'. Having identified that housing insecurity is a key source of vulnerability for the women who work with Pause, the webinar shares their 'observational learnings on the practical and emotional challenges that women face around housing when going through care proceedings and after having a child removed from their care, as well as what services can do to better support them'. You can watch the webinar here: https://vimeo.com/905616428/6e05e1d3c8? share=copy I was invited to attend an in-person, Women's Homelessness Awareness Event, held at the University of Manchester on 8 February 2024. Two important resources were launched at the event. Firstly, the University of Manchester's Feminist Collective launched their report, Women's Safety: Housing and Intersecting Crises in Manchester. The report outlines the key challenges facing practitioners working to support the safety of women who are experiencing homelessness in the context of austerity and intersecting crises in the UK. The authors, Isis Barei-Guyot, with Elizabeth Ackerley and Alison Briggs, identified two broad areas of concern: (1) supporting women to access affordable housing and (2) ensuring women have access to services. Following this, the Women's