Longer duration of homelessness is associated with higher rates of physical violence among women in Miami, Florida
A 2024 study of women experiencing homelessness in Miami reveals that they face disproportionately high rates of interpersonal violence compared to national averages, with longer durations of homelessness significantly increasing the risk of lifetime violence and recent physical assault.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Violence is a public health crisis that cuts across every layer of society, but for women who find themselves without a home, the danger is often constant and inescapable. Researchers define interpersonal violence as any behavior that intentionally threatens, attempts, or inflicts harm on another person. This includes abuse from partners, but also violence from strangers, acquaintances, or anyone else who causes physical or sexual harm. For many women, this violence is not just a tragedy that happens to them; it is a primary reason they lose their housing in the first place. When a woman flees an abusive situation, she often enters a cycle where the lack of safe shelter leaves her exposed to further victimization. Understanding the link between how long a woman has been homeless and the violence she faces is critical for designing services that actually keep people safe.
In Miami, Florida, a team of researchers set out to measure this relationship directly. Working through a student-run medical outreach program called Miami Street Medicine, they engaged with women experiencing homelessness during weekly street visits. The team approached adult women, explained the study, and asked for their consent to participate. They then conducted a private, one-on-one interview using a modified version of a standard safety survey. This survey asked specific questions about whether the women had ever experienced physical or sexual violence, whether they had been threatened or hurt in the past year, and if they had been targeted for theft. The researchers also gathered details about the women's lives, including their age, background, and how long they had been without stable housing. Over the course of ten months, from March to December 2024, fifty women completed these interviews.
The results revealed a stark reality. More than four out of five women in the study reported having experienced some form of interpersonal violence at some point in their lives. When looking specifically at the past year, the numbers remained alarmingly high: about half of the participants reported physical violence, and roughly one in five reported sexual violence. Perhaps most distinct to the experience of homelessness was the prevalence of theft-related violence. Nearly half of the women said someone had used violence or threats to steal from them. When the researchers compared these figures to national data for women in the general population, the difference was profound. The women in Miami reported rates of lifetime emotional or physical abuse, recent physical violence, recent sexual violence, and theft-based threats that were significantly higher than the national average. In some categories, the disparity was massive, with theft-related victimization appearing dozens of times more frequently in this group than among housed women.
The study also looked at whether the length of time a woman had been homeless made a difference. The researchers found a clear connection between the duration of homelessness and the risk of violence. Women who had been homeless for one year or longer were significantly more likely to report a lifetime history of abuse and to have experienced physical assault in the past year compared to those who had been homeless for a shorter time. This suggests that the longer a woman remains without stable housing, the more entrenched the risk of violence becomes. The researchers also examined whether being unsheltered—sleeping outside rather than in a shelter—was a direct cause of recent violence. While there was a trend suggesting that unsheltered women faced more physical violence, the study did not have enough data to confirm this as a statistically certain link. The sample size was simply too small to say for sure, though the pattern was visible.
These findings highlight that the danger women face on the streets of Miami is not just a random occurrence but a pattern deeply tied to the duration of their housing instability. The data shows that violence is both a driver of homelessness and a consequence of it, creating a cycle that is difficult to break without specific intervention. The researchers noted that while Miami has made efforts to provide housing and support, significant barriers remain, including a shortage of safe beds and the impact of new laws that restrict sleeping in public spaces. The study concludes that to protect these women, communities need to prioritize gender-specific, trauma-informed housing support. The evidence points to a clear need for interventions that recognize the unique dangers women face when they are homeless and act quickly to provide the safety and stability required to break the cycle of violence.
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