Acknowledging pregnant women experiencing homelessness - Women’s Month 2025

It’s Women’s Month at Glass Door Homeless Charity – throughout the month, we will spotlight the importance of our gender-informed women’s services, our amazing colleagues on the frontline, and the unique challenges women face when experiencing homelessness in London. 

14th March 2025

Alice Houbart

Senior Caseworker, Multiple Disadvantage

Content warning: This piece references sexual assault in the section ‘Meet Aisha’. 

The need for women’s homelessness services 

This year, Glass Door Homeless Charity is running our Women's Night Shelter for the second year in a row, responding to the increase in demand for women’s spaces in our winter night shelter provision. Rough sleeping is dangerous for everyone; however, women carry the added burden of gender-based violence and abuse, and being at high risk of exploitation and harm. Therefore, the importance of a safe night shelter for women is vital.  

This winter, the demand for the women’s night shelter has been high, with 177 women staying in the shelter so far.  

Last winter, the impact of changes to the Home Office asylum support policy left large numbers of newly recognised refugees evicted into homelessness, many of whom were women. This year we have seen a continuation of this trend, alongside an increase in women experiencing multiple disadvantage, complicated immigration issues and other complex care and support needs.  

Women experiencing multiple disadvantage refers to those affected by different issues at the same time, such as mental health crises, drug and alcohol problems, a history of being in contact with the criminal justice system and a repeat history of homelessness.  

Increased pregnant women guests at Glass Door 

One issue we have identified this year is the high number of pregnant women accessing Glass Door’s night shelter. In the three months since the night shelter opened, six pregnant women, who would otherwise be at risk of rough sleeping, have stayed with us. 

If a person is homeless, eligible and pregnant, they should be found “priority need” by their local authority and be entitled to temporary accommodation.

Unfortunately, the reality is that this process is not always straightforward; pregnant women come to our night shelter after being turned away from their local authorities, where they are told that they will not be offered accommodation.  

We have also worked with guests who are pregnant and have No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). Guests in this situation have very limited options, and it can be difficult to find accommodation and support for them to move on from our shelter. These guests are not entitled to statutory housing support and are often told that they will not be given accommodation until the late stages of their pregnancy or until their child is born. This leaves them in a very precarious and unsafe position.  

Pregnant guests who are staying in our shelters have described walking the streets all day as they have nowhere safe to go. Being outside in cold temperatures for long periods of time will have a negative impact on their perinatal mental health and wellbeing. Pregnancy is a time of increased vulnerability for homeless women as there is an increased risk of physical harm, financial and sexual exploitation.  

Meet Aisha*, a pregnant guest staying in our women’s night shelter 

*This guest’s name has been changed to protect her identity. 

Aisha, who was pregnant, stayed in our night shelter for just over one month whilst we worked to secure accommodation options for her. Her asylum claim had been refused, and she had been evicted from Home Office accommodation into street homelessness. During her time rough sleeping, she was sexually assaulted and became pregnant.

Her local authority advised that they could not provide her with any accommodation until her child had been born. This left her with nowhere to turn except our night shelter.  

After engaging with Glass Door’s casework team, she was linked in with maternity care at her local hospital and eventually she moved into a refuge, where she would receive ongoing support and advice.

Acknowledging pregnant women experiencing homelessness 

In the UK, no one knows how many pregnant women are currently experiencing homelessness. Shockingly, current homelessness statistics don’t record pregnancy. However, a survey by the Royal College of Midwives and Channel Four’s Dispatches in 2019 discovered that more that 99% of midwives in the UK had seen a pregnant woman who was homeless in a six-month period.  

While statistics about pregnant women experiencing homelessness are not readily available, our experience with pregnant women at Glass Door Homeless Charity, both this year and in previous years, shows that there is a real and growing demand for our services for pregnant women, especially during the winter periods. It is essential that the needs of pregnant women experiencing homelessness are acknowledged and met, and that they are not left to wait until their children are born to be able to access services and safe accommodation. 

“At Glass Door, we acknowledge that women experience homelessness differently to men. Guided by the principles of equity, our multiple specialisms  – open access shelter provision, migrant homelessness, housing, and casework  – are tailored to support each individual guest on their route out of homelessness.”  

- Anna Yassin, Migrant Project and Advocacy Manager, quoted in our Women’s Report. 

We’ll be posting on our blog and social media for Women’s Month every Saturday throughout March – so stay tuned!