Intersectionality | Social Works | Blog

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Blog 1
This blog is mainly reflected in studying the concept of intersectionality in the context of
homelessness among women in Australia due to domestic violence and how they can be helped.
Homelessness in Australia is at a surge due to several reasons. As per the opinion of Naidoo
(2018), hidden homeless is the term that is given to the women who are leading their lives in
refugee houses, shelters, emergency shelters, and others. Women and children are often
vulnerable towards homelessness because they are tortured and are often left with no options but
to suffer from homelessness. However, on the other hand, it is also evident that the State as a
whole and society is having a very neglectful attitude towards the women of the country. Yade
and Ridley (2018) think that violence in general and domestic violence, in particular, is the very
first reason that makes women flee their houses and fall into this misery that is that of
homelessness.
The problems of homelessness are more among women because, for years, they have
been thought of as someone who must be dominated at all fronts. They have been subjected to
patriarchy. Women have also not been given the right to get employed and earn their living. The
housing rents are so huge that it is not possible for women to be it alone and this makes them
suffer from homelessness. The rate of homelessness due to domestic or family violence is more
among women who belong from culturally and socially diverse backgrounds like the ones from a
non-white background.
On a societal level, victim-blaming also adds to the social injustice done towards women.
The government often blames the victims rather than penalizing the perpetrator for not following

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law and order. Social housing is becoming tough for women to afford. Homeless mothers are
often looked down upon by society and are marginalized.
Women usually find it very tough to get back to employment after giving birth to
children. This is because they are overburdened with family works and responsibilities. Often
women do not get the independence and hence have to suffer in silence and bear with all the
tortures or violence happening on them. Some of the women are just relying on parent aids or
parent payments and part-time wages to make both ends meet. It has been seen that on average
75% of part-time workers are women. Intersectionality can be used to deal with this issue. This is
because the term intersectionality refers to the interconnection of all the different social aspects
like race, class, gender and many others. Domestic violence is one of the main reasons causing
homelessness among women in Australia. Intersectionality influences feminism on a large scale
because it not only throws light on who is most vulnerable towards getting affected by
homelessness but also the ones who are most likely to get the needed help during homelessness
(Rethinkingprosperity.Org 2020). This is because this tries to focus on women of color at the
center and not the margins. In other words, women belonging from all different races and
backgrounds must be entitled to an equal amount of housing rights. The housing rates must be
dec released for the women who are less privileged so that they can get proper shelter. On a
social level, women are always the victims of patriarchy at every level. Social constructions like
gender biases are highly dominant in many of the societal levels. Women have to face such
social inequality not only in their families but also in the workplace.
The government must focus on not only developing rental housing facilities but social
and affordable rental housing facilities so that it can be opted by women and children belong
from all social classes (Montgomery et al. 2019). Housing First approach must be implemented

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in a better way (Rethinkingprosperity.Org 2020). A similar example is seen in Seattle that took
significant measures to fight homelessness but yet they had huge issues as the rate of
homelessness kept on increasing. So, under housing first approach they simply built 2000 new
apartments and move in the homeless ones in it free of cost. They did not think about the racial
or social classes of thee people. Australia must take some similar measures to provide free or
minimum rate rental houses to women suffering from family violence.
Apart from this Intersectionality focus on the conduction of community meetings and
women marches must be conducted with proper inclusion of women from all classes so that
proper feedbacks are shared bout the needs of women and children. This will help the
Government of Australia to take proper approaches in an unbiased, compassionate and careful
way.

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References
Douglas, H., 2018. Domestic violence protection orders and their role in ensuring personal
security. In Intimate Partner Violence, Risk and Security (pp. 216-232). Routledge.
Fraser, N., 2018. Recognition without ethics?. In The culture of toleration in diverse societies.
Manchester University Press.
Habibis, D., 2017. Indigenous homelessness: Perspectives from canada, Australia and New
Zealand [Book Review]. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 13(3),
p.197.
McPherson, C., 2019. Economically, Culturally and Politically Disadvantaged: Perspectives on,
and Experiences of, Social Justice amongst Working-class Youth in Mainland Scotland’s
Smallest Council Area through the Lens of Nancy Fraser. Human Rights for Children and Youth
(Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, 24, pp.193-220.
Mills, M., McGregor, G., Baroutsis, A., Te Riele, K. and Hayes, D., 2016. Alternative education
and social justice: Considering issues of affective and contributive justice. Critical Studies in
Education, 57(1), pp.100-115.
Montgomery, A.E., Gabrielian, S., Cusack, M., Austin, E.L., Kertesz, S.G. and Vazzano, J.,
2019. Applying the Housing First approach to single-site permanent supportive housing. Journal
of Social Distress and the Homeless, 28(1), pp.24-33.
Naidoo, I., 2018. Smh.Com.Au. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at:
<https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/the-average-homeless-person-in-
australia-is-not-an-old-man-20180810-p4zwpw.html> [Accessed 16 April 2020].

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Rethinkingprosperity.Org 2020. Rethinkingprosperity.Org. [online] Available at:
<http://rethinkingprosperity.org/new-approaches-to-ending-homelessness-in-seattle/> [Accessed
17 April 2020].
Rosol, M., Blue, G. and Fast, V., 2019. Social justice in the digital age: re-thinking the smart city
with Nancy Fraser. UCCities Working Paper# 1.
Sharam, A., 2017. The Voices of Midlife Women Facing Housing Insecurity in Victoria,
Australia. Social Policy and Society, 16(1), pp.49-63.
Yade, N. and Ridley, M., 2018. Lou's place: Providing a unique framework of services to support
women with multiple needs, including homelessness and alcohol and other drug
issues. Parity, 31(6), p.26.