About

Houselessness among young women and femmes is a startling public health issue in Canada, with as many as 7000 people aged 13-24 without a place to call home on any given night. Among this population, 36.4% identified as female and 60% have reported at least one attempt at suicide (Gaetz, et al., 2016; Schwan et al., 2020).

“engagements with life” is a research program that seeks to better understand the contexts that give rise to unlivability among this population. Instead of viewing suicide as an internal pathology, this program of research is concerned with the social, political, cultural, structural, and environmental factors that contribute to distress. While young women and femmes experiencing houselessness face many intersecting forms of discrimination including transmisogyny, misogyny, ageism, and classism, “engagements with life” considers how these young people are actively engaged in various forms of resistance to debility and will critically interrogate the notion of youth passivity. Through the use of stories and art, this program of research is aligned with the belief that “whenever people are oppressed, they resist, and the language of suicide lies about that” (Reynolds, 2016, p. 172).

“engagements with life” responds to the calls to action outlined in the National Youth Homelessness Survey (Gaetz, et al., 2016) and the State of Women’s Homelessness Literature Review (Schwan, et al., 2020) regarding the urgency of tailoring new supports and services to the needs of this population. The results of this research will further describe the state of houselessness occurring among young women and femmes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Canadian context – a rapidly evolving situation of pronounced exclusion, violence, and death. Importantly, this study seeks to affirm the lives of young women and femmes experiencing houselessness while celebrating their under-represented strengths.

Nicole Santos Dunn is a graduate of the Clinical and Counselling Psychology doctoral program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She is a white settler of Portuguese and Irish ancestry. Nicole has been involved in suicide prevention and houselessness research for the past ten years. She is an alumna of the Critical Health and Social Action Lab. Nicole is also a registered psychotherapist and has worked in community settings that serve young people who have witnessed and survived violence. She currently lives and works with young people as a grateful visitor in gorgeous Musqueam territory, Vancouver.

“engagements with life” is supported in part by funding from the Jean Royce Fellowship,the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (2020-2024), the Critical Health and Social Action Lab, and the Canada Research Chair in Critical Studies in Indigenous Health and Social Action on Suicide. It is also a recipient of the Marlene Biggs Memorial Award (2023-2024).

References

Gaetz, S., O’Grady, B., Kidd, S., & Schwan, K. (2016). Without a Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey. Toronto: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press.

Kouri, S & White, J. (2014). THINKING THE OTHER SIDE OF YOUTH SUICIDE: ENGAGEMENTS WITH LIFE. International Journal of Child, Youth & Family Studies IJCYFS, 5(1), 180–203. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs.kouris.512014  

Reynolds, V. (2016). Hate kills. In J. White, I. Marsh, M. J. Kral, & J. Morris. (Eds.), Critical Suicidology (pp. 169-187). Vancouver: UBC Press. 

Schwan, K., Versteegh, A., Perri, M., Caplan, R., Baig, K., Dej, E., Jenkinson, J., Brais, H., Eiboff, F., & Pahlevan Chaleshtari, T. (2020). The State of Women’s Housing Need & Homelessness in Canada: A Literature Review. Hache, A., Nelson, A., Kratochvil, E., & Malenfant, J. (Eds). Toronto, ON: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press.