RNZ: Jo Cribb warns that funding for rough sleepers risks overlooking women experiencing homelessness

CEWH Steering Committee member, Jo Cribb, who is also Chair of Te Whare Nukunoa – Wellington Homeless Women's Trust, recently spoke to Pretoria Gordon at RNZ about the government’s recent funding announcement for people sleeping rough.

While it’s positive that new support has been announced, targeting it only to providers who work with people sleeping rough is concerning.

Jo highlighted that the focus on rough sleeping doesn’t capture the majority of women experiencing homelessness; fifty percent of New Zealand’s homeless are women (often with children) and CEWH research shows they sleep in their cars, public spaces like A&E waiting rooms, couches, or are in relationships they may not want to be in because sleeping rough isn't safe.

She emphasised that every policy decision made around housing, particularly around homelessness, needed to take a gender-based lens.

Jo notes that CEWH had to work hard with government agencies for them to even collect data by gender. Without this information, policymakers are effectively “flying blind,” and the current focus on funding for people sleeping rough highlights the ongoing need for policies that work for all women experiencing homelessness.

Read the RNZ article here

Listen to the news bulletin, provided by RNZ here

Read our press release here