Homelessness Puts Women At Risk for Rape and Sexual Assault

A homeless woman was recently hospitalized after she was raped on a beach in Jacksonville, Florida. Police continue to investigate as the woman recuperates from serious injuries. The brutality that she has experienced is a reminder of just how dangerous life is for women who live on the street. Yet, rape and sexual assault against homeless women is historically underreported.

A large percentage of rapes, in general, go unreported. There have even been cases where police have ignored reports of rape from homeless women and sex workers. What's certain is that in the general population, rape and sexual assault occurs over five times more toward women than men, and rape among homeless women, particularly ones living on the street, is more prevalent than among housed women. In other words, being homeless alone is enough to put women at higher risk for rape and sexual assault.

I don't know what the woman in Jacksonville was doing just moments before she was attacked. A logical guess would be that she was trying to sleep or rest on the beach. Unlike most of us, she had no door to close or lock to turn to help protect her. She was alone, and had no phone to use to call for help. A shelter might not have been able to offer her protection from the violence because it was full; there is not enough room in shelters for our women, just like there is not enough room for our men, our children and their families, and our youth who are exposed to the same risks of the streets.

A shelter bed could mean the difference between safety and being raped. If this woman in Jacksonville had a shelter bed, or better yet, a home to live in, she would not be in the hospital right now, dealing with physical and emotional wounds that will haunt her for years to come, exacerbating whatever distressing experiences she lived through before and after becoming homeless.

Fortunately, the dangers homeless women face aren't being completely ignored. Just a few days ago in Santa Barbara, California, Casa Esperanza Homeless Shelter staff helped educate homeless women about what they can do to increase personal safety. They were given rape whistles and Safety Net cards that listed addresses and phone numbers of safe places for the women to go. The shelter's hope is that these safety measures will become common knowledge among homeless women, helping to decrease the prevalence of rape among them. While I hope that too, I can't wait for the day when women aren't at risk for rape because they don't have a bed, a door and a lock of their own.

Photo credit: SashaW