Why women?
More than 46,000 Australian women are homeless every night.
Women make up 40 per cent of those sleeping rough or in improvised shelters.
48 per cent of Australia’s nearly 47,000 ‘couch surfers’ are women.
The largest single cause of homelessness in Australia is domestic and family violence, which overwhelmingly affects women and children.
66 per cent of children who sought refuge in a homeless service last year were in the care of a woman made homeless by domestic violence.
The majority of people who are reluctantly turned away by homelessness services each night are women and their children. An astonishing 50 per cent of people seeking assistance are turned away due to high demand and under-resourcing.
Financial independence for disadvantaged women is a key tool to reducing the cycle of poverty. By giving women in vulnerable situations economic empowerment through the provision of paid work and training, it gives them the ability to change their lives and have control over their futures.
... and Men?
A feasibility study funded by the Minister for Housing and Minister for the Status of Women, the Hon Tanya Plibersek, MP. showed that homeless and disadvantaged women presented with a far greater, and more complex, range of needs, including safety and security, mental and physical health, disability, drug and alcohol dependency and childcare. It also stressed the need for structured, safe and secure employment in a women’s only environment.
As The Big Issue already operates the highly successful Street Magazine Enterprise, that has shown remarkable outcomes and positive changes predominantly for men, the start-up phase of the Women’s Subscriptions Enterprise will focus exclusively on the needs of homeless and disadvantaged women only.