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WOMEN ROUGH SLEEPERS PROJECT WORKSHOP 23rd April 2012. PARTNERS:. University of Wolverhampton (lead partner) Professor Kate Moss & Paramjit Singh
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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: www.womenroughsleepers.eu • Follow us on Twitter: @WRoughSleepers
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 2012 • 24th 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