Beyond one day: why lived experience must drive the movement to end women’s homelessness

International Women’s Day gives us a powerful platform to acknowledge women’s achievements, spotlight injustices, and drive meaningful change. But for the thousands of women across Aotearoa who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, one day isn’t enough.

We must keep the kōrero going, and more importantly, we must listen to and act on the lived experiences of wāhine like Kelly, Waimarama, and Kiri, whose stories are featured in our research Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga: Understanding Barriers and Solutions to Women’s Homelessness.

These women’s experiences show us what the data cannot: that homelessness isn’t necessarily just about housing. It’s about trauma, gender, racism, mental health, motherhood, poverty, violence, and the failure of our systems to respond with compassion and coordination.

Kelly’s Story

Kelly’s journey into homelessness began with childhood trauma, early sexual abuse, and lifelong struggles with CPTSD and ADHD. After becoming a young mum and facing financial hardship and an abusive living situation, she found herself alone, unsafe, and unsupported.

“I went and stayed with a friend who sexually assaulted me, someone I’ve known my whole life… they were supposed to be a friend.”

Despite multiple attempts to access help, Kelly was dismissed, labelled, and left to fall through the cracks, until she met someone who recommended Housing First. For the first time in years, she had a safe roof over her head.

“The thing that I needed the most, which I struggled to get through the [other] services, was consistency.”

Today, Kelly lives in a home surrounded by nature. She supports her adult son through his mental health challenges. Hers is a story of what can happen when systems work, and of what’s lost when they don’t.

Waimarama’s Story

Waimarama, a young Māori māmā of two, fled years of intimate partner violence. She tried to find safety at her mother’s house — a home with no power or running water. WINZ refused her initial request for emergency housing. Eventually, she was placed in a motel surrounded by violence and drug use. For the safety of her children, she often chose to sleep in a tent.

“It was affecting my mental health so much that I started to fall.”

When no one else stepped in, Women’s Refuge became her lifeline — helping her find safer housing, get legal protection, and begin to heal. But Waimarama’s story reminds us that no woman should have to rely on luck or resilience alone to access a basic human right: a safe, secure home.

Kiri’s Story

Kiri is a respected kaumātua and treaty advocate who now lives in a city far from her iwi and whenua. Her rural community lacked the housing and healthcare she needed as her health deteriorated. The move has been painful for her physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

“I couldn’t go to meetings or hui unless I stayed overnight, which meant going to the toilet.”

Despite being in a culturally grounded rest home, her higher health needs remain unmet. Kiri’s experience reveals the gaps for older Māori women, especially those with complex health needs, and the urgent need for whānau-centred, accessible, and culturally appropriate housing options for kaumātua.

While each of these women’s stories is unique, the common thread is undeniable: gendered systems that are not designed with women in mind.

Our research shows that gender bias, racism, intergenerational trauma, and fragmented services continue to shut women out of housing pathways.

Kelly, Waimarama, and Kiri all show us that this crisis cannot be fixed by bricks and mortar alone. It’s not just about homes, it’s about healing, support, dignity, and design.

We need an intersectional response. Ending women’s homelessness requires more than just funding emergency shelters or increasing housing stock. It means:

• Embedding lived experience at the centre of policy and service design.

• Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in housing and health solutions.

• Prioritising coordinated, trauma-informed care across all agencies.

• Listening to wāhine Māori, older women, disabled women, single mothers, and all those at the intersections of marginalisation.

We cannot afford to wait for systems to catch up while women continue to fall through the cracks. Their stories are a call to action, and we need to accelerate that action now.

This is why International Women’s Day is not just a date on the calendar. It’s a reminder that behind the statistics are women with dreams, strength, and futures that depend on our collective action.

Let’s honour their stories by transforming them into policy, into practice, and into real progress.

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