Where From? Where Now?

Substance Use

• 80% of homeless women experiencing alcohol dependency have slept rough, compared to 55% without an alcohol dependency[1]
• 90% of homeless women with drug dependency have slept rough compared to 47% without a drug dependency[2]
• 44% of homeless women who experienced drug dependency have squatted, compared to 12% without a drug dependency[3]
• 47% of all people seen rough sleeping have an alcohol support need[4]
• 29% of all people seen rough sleeping have a drug support need[5]

“If you don’t dig deep into the chaotic, substance-using women’s lives, it can become very frustrating. On the surface, they’re very intelligent women who could clearly manage. They can manage a drug habit which is a 24-hour job. They could probably manage a home and other things quite happily. But they have allowed themselves to lose contact with their support networks. And they’ve done that because the drugs took over. And then they feel so guilty that it spirals down again, until their self-worth is so low. That’s frustrating – but also completely understandable. When they take drugs, they forget all their worries.  Drugs make them feel good.” Kath Sims, Manager of St Mungo’s Westminster Outreach Team


“One of the main challenges is understanding where the women are coming from. Most are poly-substance users: they use crack, heroin, cannabis and alcohol. In the morning, as you come in, you can be pushed aside by one of the residents rushing out of the door – obviously going to do what they need to fund their habit. Then they come back and they are in pieces and they say, ‘I am sorry for being so rude this morning, I needed to go and sell myself to fund my drug habit, I don’t want this life any more, please help me.”Stella Wells, Manager of St Mungo’s service at The Chrysalis Project

“The main thing is recognising that the women are extremely vulnerable. The majority have an addiction and that plays a major role in their behaviour. Yes, we may have somebody trying to smash all the windows, but the reason is they have lost their children, they were abused throughout childhood and marriage, they lost their home, they feel like a failure. Smashing a window is them living out their anxieties.”Stella Wells, Manager of St Mungo’s South London Women’s Service

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 1st, 2012 at 2:24 pm. It is filed under background. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.