Prepared by Annabel Webb & Asia Czapska.
Read the submission: JFG’s Submission to the Federal Finance Committee for Budget 2011
Summary and Key Recommendations
Most youth shelters across Canada and government programs for homeless youth do not respond to the specific needs of girls, and the needs of Aboriginal, racialized and lesbian girls in particular. Youth safe houses/shelters are co-educational, can be unsafe for girls and do not respond to their needs, especially as many homeless girls are escaping male violence. A 2007 British Columbia wide survey of 762 homeless youth aged 12 to 18 found that 57% of the girls had been sexually abused.1
Given these considerations, transition houses specifically for teenage girls must become the emergency response to girl homelessness, as opposed to blanket ‘youthhomelessness’ initiatives. In order for gendered support programs and girl-specific emergency and longer-term housing to be created across Canada for homeless teenage girls, the federal government must allocate specific funding within federal anti-homelessness and other federal housing initiatives towards housing and programs for the prevention of girl homelessness.
Read the submission: JFG’s Submission to the Federal Finance Committee for Budget 2011