WOMEN ROUGH SLEEPERS PROJECT WORKSHOP 23rd April 2012

PARTNERS: University of Wolverhampton (lead partner) Professor Kate Moss & Paramjit Singh West Midlands European Centre – Brussels, responsible for network development, website, monthly newsletter, meetings with key European networks press releases etc… Spain – the Andalusian Government Department for Equality and Social Welfare, based in Seville Sweden – the Central Administration of Social Services in Malmo Hungary – the Regional Social Welfare Resource Centre in Budapest

Development of a website to support network development and to assist with the implementation of a network hub designed to further the development of work in this field Please take a look at the Women Rough Sleepers website: Follow us on

Partner Meetings: Wolverhampton UK, March 2011 Seville Spain, September 2011 Budapest Hungary, January 2012 Malmo Sweden, June 2012 Brussels – Meetings with Policy Makers, November/December th October 2012 Conference at Walsall College Conference Centre

UK: Good provision of various types across the W. Midlands Impact of cuts to charity and local government funding Moves to the competitive tendering process Difficult to access services and WRS impacting the research Need for further interviews & development of the network

Spain: 16 agencies dealing with WRS in Seville Lack of resources & social exclusion of women Reluctance to discuss DV / IPV Homelessness a bigger factor for families / immigrants 70% of resources provided by the church

Sweden: December 2011 PM announced 50 million euros to be spent on DV 8 million euros of government funding pa has been allocated to homelessness Good networks no problem with access Economic issues are a factor Four national surveys but difficult to compare the findings Latest carried out May 2011 with findings announced January 2012 Complex problem: The total numbers are going up, but fewer sleep rough Proportions of homeless women and foreign-born persons are also going up as wider groups of the population are kept outside the ordinary housing-market.

Hungary: 30,000 seeking shelter in public places; 50% in Budapest The Hungarian Social Act – 2 types of homeless person Current political strategy of persecution In April 2011, The City of Budapest voted for a proposal to ban rough sleeping in all its forms. Majority of homeless women are victims of violence Recent legislation April 2011 voted for a proposal to criminalise RS, using public places to sleep. You can be fined for this arrested or put in prison. They did this recently to a journalist who was resting on a bench. The plight of the homeless in Budapest is of deep concern to the Women Rough Sleepers partnership following the announcement by the Budapest Mayor that homelessness is now a criminal offence Criminalisation of poverty and social exclusion in a country suffering severe economic hardship goes against European social values and we urge the Budapest authorities to repeal this decision.

Europe: February 2012 our WMES Sophie Laine attended the ALDE Seminar on ‘EU Citizenship, Homelessness and EU Free Movement’ Comments from the Chair, Mr. Niccolo Rinaldi MEP, ALDE (Liberals/Italian) Ms. Heather Roy, Secretary General, Eurodiaconia Mr. Freek Spinnewijn, Director, FEANTSA Mr. Ionut Sasu, DG Employment, European Commission

Next steps: To complete our interviews Analysis and comparison of all interviews from all four partner countries Write up the findings in the final report to the European Commission How you can assist us: Interviews Joining the WRS network