Abstract
BackgroundViolence against women places them in a vulnerable position with regard to homelessness. Although sometimes invisible, women’s homelessness is a complex reality shrouded in dramatic biographies that should be sensitively addressed to avoid revictimization.MethodsWith the aim of understanding the chaotic discourse of homeless women’s experiences of violence, a qualitative single-case study was conducted using the photo-elicitation technique. Data were analyzed in accordance with grounded theory.ResultsThe participant’s discourse could be summarized in the following categories: “Living in a spiral of violence”, “Confronting vulnerability and violence”, “Being a strong woman”, “New family networks”, “Re-building mother–child relationships”, and “Nurturing spiritual wellbeing”.ConclusionsSupporting homelessness women requires an approach that focuses on the prevention of re-victimization and the consequences of violence in terms of physical and mental health. Shelters are spaces of care for recovery and represent referential elements for the re-construction of self.
Highlights
Violence against women places them in a vulnerable position with regard to homelessness
Maria was recruited in the context of an observation program conducted using in-depth interviews in different shelters belonging to the municipal resource network of the Madrid City Council, Spain. Her account was identified as especially meaningful among the experiences of the 20 homeless women who were interviewed, exhibiting experiential characteristics relevant to the understanding of the phenomenon under study. It is for this reason that we set out to work from a single case study approach of an intrinsic nature
Maria’s experience has allowed her to provide an example of and illustrate very concrete and significant aspects of the experience of gender-based violence, homelessness, and the process of coping with vulnerability as a homeless woman. Her discourse may be summarized in the categories explained and illustrated below: Living in a spiral of violence Gender-based violence in its different forms is present throughout Maria’s biography
Summary
Violence against women places them in a vulnerable position with regard to homelessness. Even though being a victim of certain forms of violence, such as intimate partner violence, makes it possible for women to access specific housing resources, sometimes women’s biographies involve victimization accounts of certain types of “violence” for which there is a lack of a specific network of care. In other instances, their experiences of violence may remain invisible in the eyes of professionals [8], which is when their homelessness is seen
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