Thousands of women are being missed while homeless on the streets: 'I was afraid to sleep'

Thousands of women sleeping rough on the streets across England are being missed, a new count has found, with as many as 10 times as many women homeless on the streets compared to official figures.

The women’s rough sleeping census launched four years ago in a bid to find women who are missing from the official rough sleeping snapshot, which relies on single-night counts and local authority estimates.

The census, led by Single Homeless Project and Solace, alongside Crisis and Change Grow Live, instead spends a week looking in places where women may choose to sleep rough and the services they use as well as relying on local insights meetings.

The count identified a total of 1,406 women rough sleeping across 101 local authorities through surveys, while meetings with services uncovered 2,969 women across 42 councils.

That’s compared to 733 women identified across 300 councils covered in the government’s annual count.

In six areas where the official count recorded zero women sleeping rough – Enfield, Haringey, Rochdale, Barnet, Bury and Wigan – the census counted 70 women revealed through surveys and 162 women through local insights meetings.

Lucy Campbell, assistant director for system change at Single Homeless Project, said: “For four years, this census has shown the same thing: there are thousands more women sleeping rough in England than previously thought. 

“The government has pledged to reduce long term rough sleeping by half, but this cannot be achieved without an accurate starting point. The women’s census shows there is a better way to count, understand and respond to women’s rough sleeping. The government now has an opportunity to make that the national standard.” 

While rough sleeping is typically associated with people bedding down in shop doorways and elsewhere on the street, the reality is that women tend to stay more hidden.

Nearly two thirds (65%) of women surveyed as part of the census said they had slept in places excluded from official homelessness counts, including buses, A&E waiting rooms and public transport, or staying awake through the night to avoid violence, exploitation and sexual assault.   

Women’s homelessness is also closely linked to violence against women and girls, domestic abuse, mental ill health and poverty, the census also found.

“Women are riding buses through the night, sitting in A&E waiting rooms and walking the streets until morning to stay safe, but because they are not bedding down visibly, too many are invisible in data,” added Campbell.

Around half the women surveyed as part of the census said they walked around all night to avoid sleeping visibly.

That was the case for Victoria, who lives in London and took part in the census. She said: “As a woman, I was often afraid to sleep, so I wouldn’t sleep at all, especially at night. 

“The minute men realised I was vulnerable and homeless, they would begin to offer me money to do things with them. I felt unsupported, alone and suicidal.”

Just over a quarter of women surveyed said they had stayed with strangers or new acquaintances while homeless.

Around 45% had been in some form of homelessness accommodation immediately before sleeping rough while 38% were not receiving support from a housing officer or homelessness organisation.

The government revealed its homelessness strategy at the end of 2025, vowing to half rough sleeping across England by 2029.

That’s alongside a separate strategy to half violence against women and girls.

Speaking to MPs at the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on Tuesday (9 June), homelessness minister Alison McGovern said that domestic abuse remains a significant driver of homelessness.

“I feel it’s important from a cost point of view, but primarily morally, that if somebody’s a victim of domestic abuse, that they ought not to be made homeless by that,” said McGovern.

“I’ve been struck by experts in the field about the importance of sanctuary schemes that can help victims, primarily women, stay in their own homes and be protected in their own homes.

She added: “While refuges are really, really important, and it’s important that there’s a space where people can be safe, I don’t see why if you’re a victim of domestic abuse, you have to be made homeless as well.”

Read more:

• Women who are sleeping rough are often hidden. It’s a much bigger problem than anyone thinks
• How does homelessness differ for women?
• I was made homeless aged 16. Rough sleeping is completely different for women than it is men

Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker, who is co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness, added: “Women are not absent from our streets, they are absent from the data. For four years, this census has exposed the same dangerous blind spot: women experiencing homelessness are still being overlooked because official systems are not designed around the reality of women’s lives. 

“We cannot end homelessness while continuing to ignore the women hiding in plain sight.” 

The coalition behind the census wants ministers to replace outdated rough sleeping counts with a gender-informed national approach that reflects women’s different experiences of homelessness. 

They have also called on the government to provide funding to roll out the census across all local authorities in England and ring-fence money so councils can provide gender-informed homelessness systems, supported accommodation and temporary accommodation.

Jasmine Basran, head of policy and campaigns at Crisis, said: “With the Westminster government pledging to reduce long-term rough sleeping in their homelessness strategy last year, it’s crucial they commit to fully implementing the learnings from this census so that women aren’t shut out further from support.

“This is now a matter of urgency – we can’t let women experiencing homelessness be ignored any longer.”

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