Counting women, ending homelessness

We can’t solve a problem that we can’t see. The starting point is knowing who is experiencing homelessness in a locality; otherwise, flawed commissioning and service design can follow. However, the current system for counting those experiencing the worst forms of homelessness is flawed.

The annual Rough Sleeping Snapshot is just that – a point-in-time assessment on a single night of those who appear to be bedded down. It does not reflect the fact that women experience homelessness differently from men. They are more likely to be hidden, either staying with unsuitable companions, travelling on night buses, using 24-hour fast-food restaurants or A&E, or simply walking all night – all to avoid the danger of being on the street and alone.

The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census seeks to address those flaws, counting women in a way that reflects their experience of homelessness, using the intelligence within the sector in partnership with the local authority. Local areas using this approach have often seen women counted for the first time, with figures revealing more than 10 times the number of women rough sleeping than the Rough Sleeping Snapshot would indicate.

Knowing the numbers is only the start. Once we know the numbers, we need to ensure the services we provide for women are gender-informed and trauma-aware. Women experiencing homelessness present differently from men; the causes, consequences, and routes out of homelessness are not the same, and a meaningful offer will reflect that.

In 2017, I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to explore how other countries were working to end homelessness for women. I went to the USA and Canada and saw how gender-informed and trauma-aware services could change women’s experiences and provide them with support that became a springboard into a new life.

The breadth of projects had no equivalent in the UK at that time, including places where palliative care could be delivered for women, and housing for women fleeing abuse, leaving prison, becoming young mothers, or learning to work and live independently. What was on offer was impressive, empathetically delivered, and life-changing.

Taking what was learned from Fellowship visits and applying it to our local context is the cornerstone of the Fellowship experience. I was thrilled to be involved in the setting up of a women’s pathway, including a women-only hotel, open for a two-week period over Christmas 2025 as part of the Crisis at Christmas offer.

Crisis has offered residential respite over Christmas for guests for over 50 years, but the offer for women has generally not been as successful as that for men. The reasons are complex, but we wanted to deliver something that built on our knowledge of what works. This meant a hotel that was for women only, fully staffed by women, including security, within an environment that was restful and restorative. We used the definition of rough sleeping from the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census as our criteria.

This offer was realised through the provision of a 41-bed respite and retreat facility. It was a beautiful and peaceful space. The women visibly relaxed; their trauma responses were not triggered by loud noises and frenetic activity, making casework a bit easier. There were a few men around, in catering and hotel management roles, but they were respectful and discreet.

We had female volunteers and Crisis staff, female security guards, and activities designed to support rest and wellbeing, including spa and sauna trips. There was also a clothing store full of quality donated goods for women.

The results, so far, are more than we could have hoped or imagined.

95% of women from the women’s pathway were not seen rough sleeping between the hotel’s closing date and the end of January. We’ll have some more data soon but hope to see that trajectory maintained.

A higher proportion of women referred left to go into their own accommodation than had been seen in previous years. They were overwhelmingly grateful.

One woman shared: ‘It was nice to feel warm, like at home… Every morning when I wake up, I still think that I am dreaming. But it is not a reality that needs to be fought. I will be able to live and work normally again.’

The women’s pathway is a start. It has shown what is possible when services are designed around women’s experiences of homelessness, rather than adapted from models that were not built with them in mind. We’re building on it for Christmas 2026 with an ambition to transform services at Crisis too. The Fellowship has inspired, and continues to inspire, this change.