With all the talk about homelessness, I feel like sometimes we forget the differences between homeless men and women and the different struggles they go through. Women’s bodies, for example are very different from men’s. Women need different hygiene products for their own health. It’s expensive enough for the average women to buy all the hygiene products she needs such as pads, tampons, etc. I wondered how homeless women kept up with self-care in the streets.

In the article I read about this subject, the city of New York stated that, “…staying clean is part of a daily struggle for thousands of women…where maintaining a sense of dignity is a time-consuming and potentially dangerous endeavor.” Receiving basic health care products for homeless women gives them a sense of dignity that is often stripped away because of their homelessness. Fletcher-Bake, a registered nurse says that, “Self-care and the ability to receive care in this setting helps to build a woman’s self-worth and value.” The article further explains that homeless women face deeper medical challenges than their male counterparts. Because there is minimal access to sanitary spaces, it puts women in greater risky situations.

Women also use the bathroom differently than men. The articles talk about that women can’t simply “pee behind a tree” like men can. Because of this, women often go through desperate measures to use the bathroom or avoid using the bathroom as much as they can. One homeless women stated that she would try to avoid drinking liquids at night so she wouldn’t have to use the bathroom. When a homeless women gets her period, circumstances become even harder. Some shelters have been known to give the women hygiene products, but social workers say it is harder to source those products from public donors.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/13/-scared-to-walk-thestreet.html