Housing statement of forward.

We are the women of FORWARD, Feminist Organization for Women's Advancement, Rights & Dignity. (2) We meet every week at Sistering, a women's drop-in centre in Toronto, Canada. We have experienced homelessness and bad housing conditions. When we talk about women's homelessness, we want people to know that it isn't just women sleeping on the streets who are homeless. Many women are homeless because they don't have a home that is safe, affordable, and dignified.

It's true that when you aren't housed, you have nothing. But our experiences show that NOT EVERY DWELLING IS A HOME.

Low-income women in every housing situation face stereotypes and racism. Once you are labelled, it's forever, and there are many labels for women: "single mom," "welfare case," "Latin," "prostitute," etc., all come with their own stereotypes. Whether she is lesbian, straight, divorced or widowed, a woman without a man is a target. When women are abused by their partner or family members, or when they are being isolated or controlled, home is not a safe place.

Some of us who have lived in Metro Housing (subsidized social housing run by the City of Toronto) know that you get treated like a "welfare case" when you go to the management office with a complaint. In some buildings, when you ask them to fix something they say, "It's not a condominium." Many women in social housing are treated with disrespect and racism. We have experienced violence and intimidation, and the police and security guards refuse to take our situations seriously.

Because of the stealing, drugs, violence and weapons in our communities, we live in fear. The buildings are old and falling apart and the government says there's no money to fix them. There are pests and it's dirty. Now that the management of public housing has been taken over by private management companies, they are trying to get rid of subsidized tenants in some buildings and replace them with tenants paying market rent. If they don't like you, they will find a reason to evict you. They try to use other tenants against you, they make false accusations and threats, and they use video surveillance. We agree that more subsidized housing is needed to end homelessness, but we demand that this housing be safe and decent as well as affordable.

Living in rooming houses is very hard for women and it's often the only housing you can afford if you are single and you don't have a high salary. In rooming houses we face sexual and racial harassment, and racist comments about our music or the smell of our food. There is sexism and homophobia, and single women have the least credibility. There is no privacy, it's dirty, and things get stolen. The people who run the rooming houses are very controlling and their rules and regulations make you feel like a prisoner. They even try to control what guests you have. If you complain, they turn down the heat and claim that the hydro bill is too high. They charge you more ...