Housing – more than a roof over a head
Housing is the basis for stability, a place where we can feel safe and where we can thrive – it is about so much more than the roof over our heads. It offers protection from violence and harassment and allows women the space to consider options and longer-term futures.
For women, housing is closely linked to the experience of selling or exchanging sex, it can push them into this activity, remain an issue while they are involved and act as a barrier when they choose to stop selling or exchanging sex.
Housing and homelessness services have a key role in supporting women involved in selling or exchanging sex, and so do workers in other services who come across women who directly or indirectly disclose housing issues. Read on to find out what the key housing issues are for women who sell or exchange sex.
Homelessness
Lack of stable housing and homelessness are often a pathway into selling or exchanging sex for women. Gender inequality means that women’s housing options are limited by the disadvantages women face in the job market (such as part-time, precarious and/or low-paid employment) and their reliance on benefits due to caring responsibilities.
Amongst women involved in selling sex on the streets, there are high levels of 'hidden homelessness' whereby they have informal, unstable housing arrangements with associates, friends and family. Research carried out in Stoke on Trent with women in street prostitution found that 59% had stayed in squats and most had relied heavily on friends and family for a roof over their head. Some used clients as a means of obtaining a night's shelter as well as other homelessness people's temporary accommodation (for example a friend's hostel room). Sarah Jane, a participant from the Inside Outside project described the following:
For women, housing is closely linked to the experience of selling or exchanging sex, it can push them into this activity, remain an issue while they are involved and act as a barrier when they choose to stop selling or exchanging sex.
Housing and homelessness services have a key role in supporting women involved in selling or exchanging sex, and so do workers in other services who come across women who directly or indirectly disclose housing issues. Read on to find out what the key housing issues are for women who sell or exchange sex.
Homelessness
Lack of stable housing and homelessness are often a pathway into selling or exchanging sex for women. Gender inequality means that women’s housing options are limited by the disadvantages women face in the job market (such as part-time, precarious and/or low-paid employment) and their reliance on benefits due to caring responsibilities.
Amongst women involved in selling sex on the streets, there are high levels of 'hidden homelessness' whereby they have informal, unstable housing arrangements with associates, friends and family. Research carried out in Stoke on Trent with women in street prostitution found that 59% had stayed in squats and most had relied heavily on friends and family for a roof over their head. Some used clients as a means of obtaining a night's shelter as well as other homelessness people's temporary accommodation (for example a friend's hostel room). Sarah Jane, a participant from the Inside Outside project described the following:
“I moved in with a couple I knew. I ended up staying with them a lot because it was fine and handy for work. I was bringing money back from prostitution and it was keeping them in drugs as well. Their habits were getting kept along with mine so they were more than happy for me to stay. It suited them to have me involved [in prostitution]. Yep very much so!”
The same research also found that repeat homelessness was very common, with 85% of participants reporting that this was not their first episode of homelessness, and more than 50% had been homeless five times or more.
Unstable housing situations
Women’s difficulties in accessing adequate and stable housing can increase their vulnerability and risk of being sexually exploited. Some women experience coercion from their partners/pimps to sell sex and can become trapped in that situation due to the abuse. Women may have to sell sex to earn money to pay for rent or mortgage to avoid becoming homeless.
Women in unstable housing situations are often asked for sex in exchange of housing. Commonly called “sex for rent,” this is an arrangement where someone offers housing in exchange for sexual activity. In January 2021, a Shelter and ComRes survey found that 30,000 women in the UK were propositioned with ‘sex for rent’ offers between March and December 2020 on mainstream selling platforms.
Moreover, the pandemic context and subsequent increases in living costs are particularly impacting women. This added vulnerability can be exploited through ‘sex for rent’ arrangements, which ultimately do not solve women’s lack of housing, but increase their risk of further traumatisation, abuse and homelessness.
Immigration status
Migrant women with No Recourse to Public Funds are not allowed to access publicly funded housing services or benefits, which includes financial benefits, women's refuges and other government funded housing. This means that, when they become at risk of homelessness or they are in abusive or exploitative situations, their options become extremely limited.
Ultimately homelessness and sexual exploitation are closely interlinked and unless women are offered adequate housing support that understands their trauma, the root causes of their homelessness, and the risk of exploitation, they will be unable to move into more stable housing situations.
Precarious tenancies
In the aftermath of the pandemic, women continue to see issues to maintain a stable home and face the threat of becoming homeless remains for many. One of the key issues highlighted by specialist agencies working with women involved in selling or exchanging sex across Scotland is the difficulties in sustaining tenancies, usually as a result of addiction and poverty issues.
The Scottish Drug Forum found that women became involved in transactional sex "as a result of grooming while others found themselves involved from a place of vulnerability which included desperation for money, not wanting to be caught shoplifting or selling drugs as they might end up in prison and they rationalized that selling sex was preferable. Other vulnerabilities came from being made homeless or having benefits stopped."
Another issue for women selling sex is the inability to prove their income or employment references when applying to rent a property through a private landlord. Staff working with women report that landlords will only offer expensive tenancies which ask for high deposits or which have no tenancy agreement and, therefore, no protection if issues arise. Women in these situations are vulnerable to not receiving the same housing standards as required by law and for some it might mean they cannot access long-term stable housing.
Rent arrears
During the pandemic, many women already selling or exchanging sex lost income due to lockdown restrictions. As a result, they built up debts and arrears and continue to struggle to afford rents. Some women previously rented two properties, using the second one to meet clients. However, rent increases mean women have had to give up one of the properties and started seeing clients/punters in their own homes. This can make boundaries more difficult for women to maintain and increases the risk of abuse, violence, being reported for anti-social behaviour and ultimately losing their homes.
Some women have entered debt to afford paying housing costs, which worsened their financial situation. Women borrowed money off loan sharks which again increases ongoing vulnerability and precarious situations. Research by the Centre for Social Justice found that loan sharks used coercive and violent methods to enforce payment, and 10% of all female borrowers had to provide sex for loans or sign agreements to provide sexual favours if they were to default on repayments.
Threat of eviction
The risk of eviction is also higher for women selling or exchanging sex. Clauses around anti-social behaviour might lead to eviction for women who use their rented homes to sell sex. On the other hand, women who experience a range of health and social issues like problematic substance use and trauma symptoms may present as “difficult”, which might lead neighbours to report them for anti-social behaviour, putting the tenancy of already vulnerable women in jeopardy.
Finally, the stigma surrounding prostitution or the fear of being “outed” paired with previous negative experiences with services can make women feel reluctant to approach housing and support services, or to consider social housing as an option.
Lack of supported accommodation
Women who are being sexually exploited face the added risk of violence from exploiters, pimps, past and current clients as well as organised crime. Although refuges exist for women and children fleeing domestic abuse, the pressure on these services and the specific focus on domestic abuse might mean that they cannot meet the range of needs and complex circumstances that women who sell or exchange sex present with. Being housed in unsuitable accommodation or housing that cannot meet their needs can result in women being removed from the service and back into homelessness.
Stigma and loss of a support network
Women who are considering exiting or who have stopped selling or exchanging sex often find they have lost the support they previously had from women who are still involved in the ‘sex industry.’ This isolation can be very difficult, as Barbie from the project Outside found:
Unstable housing situations
Women’s difficulties in accessing adequate and stable housing can increase their vulnerability and risk of being sexually exploited. Some women experience coercion from their partners/pimps to sell sex and can become trapped in that situation due to the abuse. Women may have to sell sex to earn money to pay for rent or mortgage to avoid becoming homeless.
Women in unstable housing situations are often asked for sex in exchange of housing. Commonly called “sex for rent,” this is an arrangement where someone offers housing in exchange for sexual activity. In January 2021, a Shelter and ComRes survey found that 30,000 women in the UK were propositioned with ‘sex for rent’ offers between March and December 2020 on mainstream selling platforms.
Moreover, the pandemic context and subsequent increases in living costs are particularly impacting women. This added vulnerability can be exploited through ‘sex for rent’ arrangements, which ultimately do not solve women’s lack of housing, but increase their risk of further traumatisation, abuse and homelessness.
Immigration status
Migrant women with No Recourse to Public Funds are not allowed to access publicly funded housing services or benefits, which includes financial benefits, women's refuges and other government funded housing. This means that, when they become at risk of homelessness or they are in abusive or exploitative situations, their options become extremely limited.
Ultimately homelessness and sexual exploitation are closely interlinked and unless women are offered adequate housing support that understands their trauma, the root causes of their homelessness, and the risk of exploitation, they will be unable to move into more stable housing situations.
Precarious tenancies
In the aftermath of the pandemic, women continue to see issues to maintain a stable home and face the threat of becoming homeless remains for many. One of the key issues highlighted by specialist agencies working with women involved in selling or exchanging sex across Scotland is the difficulties in sustaining tenancies, usually as a result of addiction and poverty issues.
The Scottish Drug Forum found that women became involved in transactional sex "as a result of grooming while others found themselves involved from a place of vulnerability which included desperation for money, not wanting to be caught shoplifting or selling drugs as they might end up in prison and they rationalized that selling sex was preferable. Other vulnerabilities came from being made homeless or having benefits stopped."
Another issue for women selling sex is the inability to prove their income or employment references when applying to rent a property through a private landlord. Staff working with women report that landlords will only offer expensive tenancies which ask for high deposits or which have no tenancy agreement and, therefore, no protection if issues arise. Women in these situations are vulnerable to not receiving the same housing standards as required by law and for some it might mean they cannot access long-term stable housing.
Rent arrears
During the pandemic, many women already selling or exchanging sex lost income due to lockdown restrictions. As a result, they built up debts and arrears and continue to struggle to afford rents. Some women previously rented two properties, using the second one to meet clients. However, rent increases mean women have had to give up one of the properties and started seeing clients/punters in their own homes. This can make boundaries more difficult for women to maintain and increases the risk of abuse, violence, being reported for anti-social behaviour and ultimately losing their homes.
Some women have entered debt to afford paying housing costs, which worsened their financial situation. Women borrowed money off loan sharks which again increases ongoing vulnerability and precarious situations. Research by the Centre for Social Justice found that loan sharks used coercive and violent methods to enforce payment, and 10% of all female borrowers had to provide sex for loans or sign agreements to provide sexual favours if they were to default on repayments.
Threat of eviction
The risk of eviction is also higher for women selling or exchanging sex. Clauses around anti-social behaviour might lead to eviction for women who use their rented homes to sell sex. On the other hand, women who experience a range of health and social issues like problematic substance use and trauma symptoms may present as “difficult”, which might lead neighbours to report them for anti-social behaviour, putting the tenancy of already vulnerable women in jeopardy.
Finally, the stigma surrounding prostitution or the fear of being “outed” paired with previous negative experiences with services can make women feel reluctant to approach housing and support services, or to consider social housing as an option.
Lack of supported accommodation
Women who are being sexually exploited face the added risk of violence from exploiters, pimps, past and current clients as well as organised crime. Although refuges exist for women and children fleeing domestic abuse, the pressure on these services and the specific focus on domestic abuse might mean that they cannot meet the range of needs and complex circumstances that women who sell or exchange sex present with. Being housed in unsuitable accommodation or housing that cannot meet their needs can result in women being removed from the service and back into homelessness.
Stigma and loss of a support network
Women who are considering exiting or who have stopped selling or exchanging sex often find they have lost the support they previously had from women who are still involved in the ‘sex industry.’ This isolation can be very difficult, as Barbie from the project Outside found:
“All the people that I knew, they're all still in, and very much in. I'm not close to them anymore because once you exit the sex industry you drift away from everyone in that world, even people that were your friends for many years. The underworld of sex work is very different, it's not like the real world at all, it's totally different and you must learn a new way.”
Similarly, previous negative experiences with services can mean women feel reluctant to seek support to stop selling or exchanging sex for fear of being judged or stigmatised.
Women need trusted relationships with staff who understand their needs, they require a single point of contact to avoid having to retell their story and workers who can advocate with her into other services. Read our practice points to find our practical things you can do to improve how you respond to women's housing needs.
Women need trusted relationships with staff who understand their needs, they require a single point of contact to avoid having to retell their story and workers who can advocate with her into other services. Read our practice points to find our practical things you can do to improve how you respond to women's housing needs.
