“There is a general assumption that there are no homeless women in Russia”. The Director of Nochlezhka in Moscow, Daria Baibakova, on why women end up on the street yet remain invisible to society

 

23.08.2024

 

Article published on the meduza.io website

 

Introduction

 

To many people, homelessness is a problem normally associated with men, but in reality there are quite a few homeless women, roughly a million in the whole of Russia. Their presence on the street brings with it the risk of sexual violence, becoming pregnant, and shelters unwilling to accept children. There are reasons for being homeless which are specifically related to women warranting serious discussion when none is currently taking place. It is as if homeless women, especially those with children, are invisible to the rest of society.

 

The charity Nochlezhka is trying to remedy this situation. The independent journalists’ cooperative Bereg has spoken at length with its Moscow-based Director, Daria Baibakova, about efforts being taken by her organisation to help homeless women.

 

The following is a summary of some of the main issues covered in Bereg’s interview with Baibakova. The full transcript can be found on the link at the end.

 

• In addition to social and financial factors that force women on to the street comes the emotional realisation for many who feel they have lost their identity, failed in their role as a wife and mother as well as losing their home.

 

• Older women are more likely to experience violence from family members than their partners. More often than not, they stay with the person committing the abuse rather than leave. Homeless younger women are more likely to seek help while older ones have a harder time withstanding the cold, often suffering from existing medical conditions with no access to medication.

 

• One of the survival strategies for women is to enter into a relationship with a partner in exchange for a roof over their heads. Very often, the choice is between being in an unsafe relationship and the insecurity of being on the street.

 

• Women are often forced to take any job just to earn some money. Sometimes it is resorting to prostitution or life in a workhouse where they are exploited by criminal enterprises that thrive on labour shortages.

 

• Other ways that women try to avoid sleeping on the street is taking out loans which they are often compelled to do as a way to survive. They are used to pay for basic necessities, to obtain expensive medicine, or prepare a child for school. Large debts gradually accumulate that are deducted from any legitimate income which later makes it impossible for them officially to gain employment.

 

• There are four times as many men as women seeking help from Nochlezhka. However, this is a very skewed figure because of the close link between all kinds of abuse and female homelessness. Economic, emotional, physical and sexual abuse can be more than just a reason for being homelessness – this is something that women suffer on the street as well.

 

• Women have nowhere to hide and no-one to protect them on the street as there are a large number of men around who all behave differently. Women therefore try as much as possible not to draw attention to themselves. So they attempt to hide their gender, to wear non-descript clothing, avoid using make-up and try to blend into the crowd.

 

• Moscow has the largest State shelter system in Russia under which homeless women can receive help. There are separate shelters for men and women but you can only stay there if your last registration was in the capital. Most homeless people are in Moscow but many are not registered there, which results in vacant places in the shelters. In addition, addresses of the Moscow crisis centres are listed on their websites which means that women fearing persecution are unlikely to go there.

 

• There are very few centres where a woman can stay if they have a small child. And it is impossible if the child is a teenager, or if the children are different sexes because it is extremely difficult to place a teenage boy with a girl from another family or with another adult woman.

 

• In order to make homeless women safe, a system of care needs to be put in place and there are a number of ways in which this can be achieved. If a shelter is mixed there should be more spaces for women than men – at present the ratio is almost the opposite. Women feel safer in small spaces rather than in a large centre where there are hundreds of beds.

 

• It is good to have spaces that are just for women, e.g. showers, washrooms and restrooms. Shelters need to be in a safe, well-lit location where they can feel secure. Female staff also increase safety.

 

• Another approach is not to rely on the existing system but to create new initiatives that are just for women. For example, Nochlezhka recently opened the first rehab centre in Russia for homeless women with addictions called the Halfway House.

 

• In the Halfway House, there is a six-month treatment programme where homeless women receive help from psychologists, social workers and chemical dependency specialists. If successful, they achieve stable remission, stay sober, find work and move out into rented housing.

 

• Anyone can be helped to get out of homelessness – it is the main goal of Nochlezhka’s Some can be helped very quickly while others need more time – it depends on their circumstances and life situation. After staying in one of Nochlezhka’s rehab shelters, around 60% move off the street and return to a normal life.

 

• However, these centres have a limited capacity with a maximum of only eight people. Nochlezhka sees these as pilot projects in order to assess their effectiveness and hopefully scale them up.

 

• A woman can give birth without documentation and won’t be told to leave the hospital – during childbirth, it doesn’t matter whether the person is homeless or not. But it is often difficult for a homeless woman to receive gynaecological care without stigma or opprobrium. Fortunately, Nochlezhka has colleagues from specialist CSOs who provide medical help for women. One example is the Charity Hospital in St Petersburg, which works to reduce such stigma and increase accessibility to their services.

 

Source: https://meduza.io/feature/2024/08/23/v-rossii-sozdaetsya-illyuziya-chto-bezdomnyh-zhenschin-net