Women sleeping rough ‘STILL’ excluded from official figures leaving women at risk of violence

Women sleeping rough ‘STILL’ excluded from official figures leaving women at risk of violence A new report reveals ten times more women were sleeping rough in some areas than official government counts identified. Women sleeping rough are being overlooked by official government counts, with many forced to seek refuge in places such as buses, A&E waiting rooms and public transport that are excluded from homelessness statistics, according to The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census 2025. Nearly two thirds (65%) of women said they slept in places excluded from official homelessness counts. The stark findings also included women who felt forced to stay awake in the hope of avoiding violence, exploitation and sexual assault. Among them was Victoria, from London, who spent three years sleeping rough on busy central London streets and said fear often stopped her from sleeping at all. 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.” The survey revealed 1,406 women were sleeping rough in England, but the Government Rough Sleeping Snapshot 2026 identified only 733 women. It also found 10 times more women were sleeping rough in some areas than official government counts identified. Six local authorities, including Enfield, Haringey, Rochdale and Barnet, recorded zero women sleeping rough, but the Census identified 162 women in those same areas. The report marked the fourth year of The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census 2025: Missing Women, led by Single Homeless Project and Solace, alongside Crisis and Change Grow Live. Researchers found women’s homelessness was closely linked to violence against women and girls, domestic abuse, mental ill health, poverty and multiple disadvantage. The findings have reignited calls for a different approach to counting women experiencing homelessness. Rebecca Goshawk, Director of Business Development at Solace, said: “For years now, this evidence has shown that government counts put women at risk of violence and assault; we have said, time and again, that services do not meet the needs of women, but systems are yet to change.” Lucy Campbell, Assistant Director for System Change at Single Homeless Project, said: “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.” In a bid to make women’s homelessness visible and prevent more women falling through the cracks, the report set out requests to the Government: - Update the definition: Amend the 2010 government definition of rough sleeping so it reflects how women experience homelessness, including hidden, transient and less visible rough sleeping. - Roll out the Census nationally: Fund and resource the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census across England, with clear guidance so every local authority can collect accurate, inclusive data and use it to shape policy, funding and services. - Make services safe for women: Provide clear guidance and ring-fenced funding so local authorities can deliver homelessness systems, supported accommodation and temporary accommodation that are safe, accessible and gender-informed. - Make the National Plan work for women: Ensure every toolkit promised through the National Plan to End Homelessness, including prevention, outreach, complex needs and temporary accommodation, is gender-informed and tackles the barriers faced by women most likely to be missed. - Act before women are forced into danger: Expand priority need to include survivors of rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation, update prevention guidance around VAWG, immigration status and homelessness, and collaborate with Women’s Rough Sleeping Census to understand and respond to women’s hidden homelessness The report has already helped shape support in some areas as Camden Council has used the gender-informed report to offer appropriate support for women experiencing rough sleeping and has participated in the Census since it began to help tailor the support it provides. Camden Council Cabinet Member for Better Homes and Homelessness Prevention, Cllr Anna Wright, said: “It has also helped us to strengthen the specialist support we are providing for women through our Housing First service and dedicated women’s outreach, while also increasing the spaces we have available for women only in our accommodation services. “As a result, more women in Camden are able to access the tailored, trauma-informed support they need to move away from homelessness and into safe and stable accommodation.” Paula Barker MP, Co-Chair of the APPG for Ending Homelessness, said the Census had repeatedly highlighted gaps in the way women’s homelessness was recorded. She said: “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.”