Editor's note

More than 100,000 Australians are classified as homeless on any given night. We know these people are often anxious about their circumstances, experience ill health and a lack of personal safety. But there are hidden aspects of homelessness we don’t often hear about – such as the extra vulnerability to gendered violence homeless women are exposed to.

Juliet Watson conducted a study of women’s experiences managing homelessness in Melbourne, and found many had to resort to “survival sex” to stay off the streets. Ironically, their desperate need for a comfortable and safe place to sleep often puts these women in a different kind of harmful scenario.

Sasha Petrova

Acting Cities Editor

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Homeless women are particularly vulnerable to gendered violence. from shutterstock.com

‘Just a piece of meat’: how homeless women have little choice but to use sex for survival

Juliet Watson, RMIT University

Survival sex can be a viable option for women managing homelessness. It ranged from staying with men for a night or a woman remaining in a sexual relationship to avoid becoming homeless again.

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