At the Intersection of Invisibilities: Canadian women, homelessness and health outside the 'big city'

This article explores the concept of 'invisibility' in relation to women, homelessness and health in Ontario, Canada. While popular images of homelessness continue to focus on older men with mental illness and/or addictions issues, the proportion of women without secure, affordable shelter continues to rise. The stereotypes of homelessness also have a spatial component, with the incorrect assumption that housing affordability crises are concentrated in the centres of large cities. There is a third aspect to 'invisibility': the tendency of the traditional medical model of health care to ignore the interrelated physical and emotional impacts of stress among women who make lip the majority of the 'hidden homeless'. While an increasing number of women are facing loss of their accommodation in suburban, small city and rural settings, this social policy issue remains largely invisible outside the realm of local services struggling to meet women's needs. Interviews with women facing homelessness in Haliburton, Kingston and Oshawa, a rural area, small town and outer suburb, illustrate both experiences of invisibility and possibilities of integrated health services combating this personal and societal invisibility.