Special report: Homeless women face violence and housing

Forcing survivors to litigate their restraining order hearings is a regular reality — and a gaping fault in a system that continues to fail battered women, advocates say.

Most women who have experienced homelessness report experiencing violence from strangers. Transgender women find they face additional challenges.

Most cities, such as Portland where Michelle now lives, do not offer many safe, clean, accessible or free restrooms despite public health experts acknowledging the very real, very ordinary need.

To break free from the domestic abuse and to protect her children, Rachel experienced homelessness in hopes of something safer on the other side.

Faced with a homeless services system largely built for men, women experiencing domestic abuse may find themselves choosing between violence and the street. 

The Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team surveyed 150 women from July through October 2024 across eleven women’s daytime and overnight shelters throughout the Pacific Northwest.