What unique circumstances do female youth face when they are homeless?
Female youth face different pathways into street-involvement and often have a different street-experience. According to an Ottawa study, twice as many young women as men reported “parental abuse” as the key reason for their homelessness2. This divide is even more apparent when looking at sexual abuse as almost all sources agree that young women experience sexual abuse in the home far more often than young men. On the street young women are engaging in more survival sex and sex work (though young men and transgender youth also have increasingly high rates), face more sexual violence and are at-risk of unplanned pregnancy.
Female youth face different pathways into street-involvement and often have a different street-experience. According to an Ottawa study, twice as many young women as men reported “parental abuse” as the key reason for their homelessness2. This divide is even more apparent when looking at sexual abuse as almost all sources agree that young women experience sexual abuse in the home far more often than young men. On the street young women are engaging in more survival sex and sex work (though young men and transgender youth also have increasingly high rates), face more sexual violence and are at-risk of unplanned pregnancy.
