Causes of women’s homelessness in Ukraine

This paper investigates the specific aspects of women’s homelessness in the big cities of Ukraine. Men prevail among the street homeless people, and homeless people are often seen as male. As a result, different aspects of women’s homelessness and their causes are often overlooked both in scientific and in legal papers. This research not only discovers these specific aspects but also investigates how they are embedded in patriarchal system of social relations. The authors analyze gender-based violence, affiliation to family as the part of the women’s gender role, the labour market discrimination, the reproductive and service/serving work prevailing for women. Even though this research focuses mostly on the specific aspects of female homelessness, the common reasons and aspects of both male and female homelessness are studied too, since they are important part of women’s homelessness. This is the pilot research which aims to be the starting point of the further investigations of the women’s homelessness in Ukraine. The research includes generalizing the results of previous studies regarding the issue of women’s homelessness, identifying the features of women’s homelessness in Ukraine and classifying the factors of homelessness in Ukraine both characteristic of women as well as typical of men and women. The notion of the homelessness is conceptualized as the absence of an independent permanent residence, which includes not only life in the street but also life in shelters for homeless people, shelters for the victims of the family violence, and other places that are not the independent permanent residence. Such a definition of homelessness helps to uncover the aspects of the women’s homelessness as women tend to avoid the street homelessness. The notion of the private space of homelessness, where women prevail, is one of the findings of the research.
У статті виокремлено основні чинники бездомності в Україні, як спільні для жінок і чоловіків (бідність, безробіття, низькооплачувана робота, брак доступного житла, досвід перебування в інтернатах та місцях позбавлення волі), так і специфічні саме для жінок (насильство в сім’ї та фемінізація бідності). Хоча в Україні вже проведено низку досліджень щодо насильства в сім’ї і фемінізації бідності, але жодне з них дотепер не розглядало ці соціальні явища як чинники жіночої бездомності. Також дослідження виявило, що жінки становлять меншість серед «видимих» бездомних. Натомість вони перебувають у центрах допомоги жертвам насильства або вдаються до трасової секс-роботи, шлях потрапляння до якої є схожим на шлях потрапляння до бездомності.