| Calgary and other Canadian cities need to build more shelters exclusively for women in order to truly help them, says author Susan Scott. Scott recently interviewed homeless women from Ottawa to Vancouver for her new book All of Our Sisters: Stories of Homeless Women in Canada. She says many women don’t feel safe when they are forced to live in the same shelters as men because they have experienced violence and sexual abuse at the hands of men. Scott also discovered that transgendered women are reluctant to use shelters because they are often housed with men where they can face potential violence. Scott has interviewed women who are scared to take a shower because the shower rooms don’t feel secure enough and women are often embarrassed to have to ask male staff for tampons.
Scott says the number of homeless women is much higher than it appears because many women avoid shelters. "I think we just don’t know how big the problem is with women because there’s so much couch surfing and women going home with a guy for the night," she says.
In Scott’s book several tragic commonalities among homeless women emerge. Many were sexually abused as children and ended up in foster homes. As adults many face brutal violence and are mired in addictions. Some resort to prostitution to survive. If they have children, many lose their children to the child welfare system that they themselves may have had bad experiences with as children. Most of the women she talked to had major health problems such as hepatitis C and AIDS, making it even more crucial for them to find safe, affordable housing where they can tend to their health. Aboriginal women, lesbian and transgendered women and women with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) or mental illnesses are more likely to end up homeless.
Despite the myriad of problems homeless women are dealing with, the most important thing is for them to have safe, affordable housing where they can rebuild their lives, she says. "I think people have a better chance of making things work if they have a safe place. Can you imagine dealing with a problem if you were on a mat in a shelter?" asks Scott.
Scott would also like to see the child welfare system become more sensitive to homeless women and offer them more assistance to enable them to keep their kids. "The women love their children to pieces. To have their kids snatched away is brutal. It’s so cruel and it just sends them into a tailspin," she says.
Addictions treatment also has to be specifically tailored to women. Scott says often addictions treatment programs are based on what works for men and that doesn’t necessarily help women.
Scott describes working on this book as an "absolute rollercoaster." During some interviews she wept and laughed alongside her subjects. "Sometimes I just got goosebumps. Some of the women are so political and strong. They would invite me on protests," she says. "I was really honoured and touched they told me their story because they thought it would make a difference. They thought it might touch people’s hearts."
She was haunted by the thought of all the women who have gone missing or have been murdered in Canada in recent years. During one visit to a Winnipeg homeless shelter a woman was crying and told Scott it was because her sister’s DNA had been found on the Robert Pickton pig farm. Scott wishes that Canadians were more "outraged" about the number of marginalized women who have ended up murdered or missing. "We have to be really careful about seeing women as objects because that’s what allows something like the pig farm to happen in Port Coquitlam. With words like crack whore we’re saying she’s no good and allowing really bad things to happen," says Scott.
Scott says the charity model has been a failure in helping women exit the streets that can be so dangerous for them. "To really make a difference we have to go beyond food at Christmas and blankets when it’s cold. We’ve allowed our government to cut back our social services and housing. We’ve all become part of the problem," she says. "We need to get beyond the superficial and get to the systemic stuff."
One simple way that Calgarians can help homeless women is by donating bras and underwear in a variety of sizes. Scott says one of the women she interviewed specifically talked about how depressing it is to put on used underwear that doesn’t fit properly. "In terms of band-aid solutions I think that’s not bad. It helps their self-esteem, could help them get a job. Who wants someone else’s knickers," says Scott with a laugh.
Susan Scott’s book launch takes place at the W.R. Castell Library’s John Dutton theatre at 7:30 p.m. on May 4. After a reading there will be a discussion hosted by Wayne Stewart, president of the Calgary Homeless Foundation and John Rook, CEO of the Salvation Army’s community services. |
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