Experience of Violence in the Lives of Homeless Women: A Research Report

摘要

Studies investigating the experience of violence by homeless women date to the mid 1980s, but most prior research has been more concerned with establishing the face of violence committed against these extremely vulnerable women than in exploring the risk factors responsible for it. This multi-site statewide study examined the experience of violence among 800 homeless women living in one of four cities in Florida and a comparison sample of approximately 100 men. A significant number of women were victimized in their lifetime, and almost one-quarter of the women indicated that violence was one, if not the main reason they were homeless. In fact almost one third of the sample of women indicated they had left a childhood home due to violence. Rates of sexual, physical and stalking victimization were much higher in this sample compared to the National Violence Against Women Survey, which used the same measures. For the women in this study, childhood experiences of violence were consistently associated with negative outcomes such as alcohol and drug use, depression, and low self-esteem. Moreover, the results of the multivariate analysis indicated that childhood violence significantly increased the risk for adult victimization net of all other factors in the model. In addition, other risk factors included current alcohol use, being divorced or separated, a greater number of children, number of times homeless, and depression. What this analysis tells us is that homeless women are a vulnerable population with childhood violence at the crux of this vulnerability. Minor and Severe violence experienced as a child increased the risk of many of factors (including homelessness) that then were associated with a greater risk for adult victimization. At a minimum, these results suggest that that more attention should be paid to the treatment of child victimization and a greater effort should be made to prevent child maltreatment. For the women in our study, these efforts would be too late, however, homeless shelters, may not be equipped to handle the myriad of problems that these women may be dealing with. Shelters, for example appear to be more equipped to handle needs such as healthcare and the immediate issue of housing. However, they may not be prepared to delve deep into the childhood experiences of the women that arrive at their facilities. Without such abilities, homeless women are in danger of repeating the cycle over and over again and putting both themselves and their children in grave danger.