Understanding Homelessness for Urban Indigenous Families: How Can We Envision Gendered and Culturally Safe Responses

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dc.contributor.authorRodrigues, Cathryn
dc.contributor.authorHenderson, Rita
dc.contributor.authorLucas, Katelyn
dc.contributor.authorBristowe, Sean
dc.contributor.authorRamage, Kaylee
dc.contributor.authorMilaney, Katrina
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-14T22:33:41Z
dc.date.available2023-06-14T22:33:41Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description.abstractFamily homelessness is a complex and pervasive issue in Canada. Particularly troubling is the overrepresentation of Indigenous families in Canada’s emergency shelters and in unsafe/ unstable housing. Indigenous families headed by women are at high risk for racist and violent practices and particular attention needs to be paid to their gendered and cultural experiences. Western definitions articulate that homelessness occurs when an individual or family is without safe, permanent, and/or appropriate housing and are without prospects for achieving such housing. Understanding homelessness for Indigenous Peoples means regarding homelessness as a lack of housing, but also as the isolation or separation of Indigenous Peoples from their connections to land, place, water, family, each other, animals, languages, cultures, and identities (Aboriginal Standing Committee on Housing and Homelessness, 2012; Thistle, 2017). Understanding homelessness for Indigenous Peoples means examining the legacy impacts of assimilation policies of colonialism and acknowledging that current polices and practices are grounded in historical and structural racism against Indigenous peoples. This study was led by non-Indigenous researchers in partnership with Elders and knowledge keepers. The Aboriginal Standing Committee on Housing and Homelessness acted as an advisory committee. Guidance and advice was sought from study inception and design through data collection and analysis. We identified five distinct themes affecting Indigenous women in the context of family homelessness: jurisdictional separation between sectors; racism; lack of safety; the need for family and limited opportunities to heal from trauma. We argue that structural violence is present in systems and policies that impede women’s opportunities to exit homelessness and heal from trauma.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipFinally, we would like to thank the O’Brien Institute for Public Health for the financial allocation from its anonymously-funded “Research and Training Program for Health and Vulnerable Populations”.”en_US
dc.identifier.citationRodrigues, C., Henderson, R., Lucas, K., Bristowe, S., Ramage, K., Milaney, K. (2020). Developing Gendered and Culturally Safe Interventions for Urban Indigenous Families Experiencing Homelessness. Toronto: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press.en_US
dc.identifier.isbn9781550146721
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/41204
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherCanadian Observatory on Homelessness Press
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/*
dc.titleUnderstanding Homelessness for Urban Indigenous Families: How Can We Envision Gendered and Culturally Safe Responsesen_US
dc.typeReporten_US

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