Blogmas, Day 2: Feminism and Multiple Needs

I’m a feminist because when I think about the teeny bopper magazines I read when I was 13; I genuinely remember articles with titles like “How to make boys like you”.

I’m a feminist because the only education I ever received about abortions was half of an hour long religious studies lesson. The other half of the lesson was about euthanasia. I’m a feminist because, a fellow feminist I greatly admire, once said “Do you have a vagina? And do you want to be in charge of it? If you said yes to both then congratulations you're a feminist!”

I’m a feminist because I work with women with multiple needs.

People with multiple needs are experiencing homelessness, substance misuse, offending and mental ill health. People with multiple needs are marginalised because of their chaotic lifestyles and complex problems; being a woman with multiple needs brings another set of barriers, hurdles and cracks in the system.

Women with multiple needs are likely to find out they are pregnant later than a lot of women, when you have nowhere to live or even store your belongings, keeping track of your periods is the last thing on your mind. This means that making the decision whether or not to continue with a pregnancy is made even more difficult and time pressured.

Women with multiple needs are often mothers. When their children are taken into care, any support the mother was receiving often ceases. As I’ve written about before, women with multiple needs will continue to answer difficult questions from strangers about their children and their custody arrangements for years to come, they will continue to relive the events that led to a child being removed for the rest of their lives.

Women are more likely to suffer domestic violence; but women with multiple needs are often too complex to be considered by domestic violence refuges. Homeless hostels can be male dominated environments where women find it difficult to feel safe.

When a woman with multiple needs is found dead, the papers may report that she was a prostitute or a drug user; but may forget to report that she was a sister, an aunty, or a friend.

So, I’m a feminist because I want teenage girls to be able to read magazines about becoming a slam poet or a rocket scientist or a film director or whatever the hell else they want to be. I’m a feminist because I want women to be encouraged to talk about their own bodies and difficult decisions and events without judgement or assumption. I’m a feminist because women with multiple needs need feminists in their corner.

I’m a feminist because we’ve still got a lot of work to do.

Other stuff to read:

http://www.mungos.org/homelessness/street_stories/themes_homelessness/women_and_homelessness  Powerful interviews with women experiencing homelessness.

http://www.caitlinmoran.co.uk/ Fun, awesome, understandable feminism

http://weareagenda.org/ An alliance of organisations who campaign for women and girls at risk