HOUSING – A MAJOR CONCERN
FOR VULNERABLE WOMEN
 Many
women leaving prison have no home to which
they can return. At a time when they are
most vulnerable, their restoration to
society is seriously endangered by having no
suitable, safe accommodation.
Homeless women released from custody are
frequently housed in “temporary”
accommodation in hostels, some of which are
unsafe and unsuitable for vulnerable women
wanting to change their lives.
The Sozo Women's Resettlement Project seeks eventually to provide
safe and sustaining halfway houses – the
Cedar House Programme - for vulnerable women
supported by the Project. Meanwhile there is
a need to campaign for the improvement of
existing facilities and housing routes, and
the development of reliable ways of housing
all vulnerable women in safe and acceptable
accommodation whenever and wherever this is
required.
We plan to work with other interested
organisations to bring this about. It will,
we suggest, reduce the rate of re-offending
as many leaving prison who are faced with
homelessness (especially in winter), commit
further crimes and are consequently returned
to prison. Often those on probation will be
forced to return to their offending area in
order to report as homeless for addition to
a local authority housing list. Addressing
the failures in the housing situation for
many of the women leaving prison will reduce
the number of homeless people on our streets
and also make our communities safer places.
RESPECT REDUCES RAPE, ABUSE AND VIOLENCE
More than half of the women in prison have
been raped or otherwise abused prior to
entering prison. In most cases, we find, it
is unresolved.
From experience, we feel that in a
significant number of cases, the root cause
can be traced back to teenage years and can
be directly due to two factors. Firstly, in
some areas and sectors of society teenage
boys and young men have little or no respect
for their female peers. Secondly, similarly
situated teenage girls and young women with
low self esteem consider abuse by their male
peers to be something they have to accept as
part of their lives.
These attitudes have to change and we feel
there is a need to co-ordinate an education
campaign to reach these young people of both
sexes – to establish respect for young
females and to raise their self-esteem.
Some organisations and youth workers are
addressing these attitudes in their own way
but a co-ordinated effort is likely to bring
the best results faster. By building RESPECT
among these age groups we can help to change
society for the better.
The success of such a campaign could bring
about a reduction in overall violence
against women (because many young abusers of
women continue their violence into later
adult life) and a decrease in crime rates.
Young women with low self-esteem who have
suffered in this way, can be easily caught
up in crime. It is estimated that more than
50,000 women in the UK are raped every year.
We welcome the prospect of working with any
organisation or individuals involved or
willing to become involved in redressing
these deficiencies in society, and prepared
to be committed to planning a co-ordinated
campaign and raise adequate funding for its
implementation.
If you or your
organisation are interested in a forum for
either or both of these two campaigns we
would welcome the opportunity to discuss
them with you. The seeds have been planted.
Now we have to help them to grow.
Note: We are also supportive of other
organisations in campaigns against the death
penalty in various parts of the world and
with those working to resolve the causes and
effects of violence against women in its
many forms. |
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