From Monday 21 to Sunday 27 September, Oxfordshire took part in the national Women’s Rough Sleeping Census: a week-long count designed to find the women who sleep rough but are missing from official figures.
The census is led nationally by Solace Women’s Aid and Single Homeless Project, in partnership with Crisis and Change Grow Live. In Oxfordshire it was coordinated by Oxfordshire Homeless Movement (OHM), with the support of Oxfordshire County Council and a wide range of local services, including Homeless Oxfordshire.
Why the official count misses women
Most rough sleeping figures come from a single-night snapshot of people seen “bedded down” on the street. Women are far less likely to be visible in that way, because sleeping out in the open is so dangerous.
The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census works differently. Over seven days, gender-informed outreach shifts visit the places women go to stay safe at night: A&E departments, night buses, train stations, 24-hour cafés and public toilets. At the same time, services that women are in touch with complete a short survey with them and pool what they know about women who have slept rough in the last three months.
The difference is stark. When Oxfordshire first took part in 2024, the census found 36 women who had slept rough in the previous three months. That is more than double the 14 recorded in the government’s official snapshot. A further 28 women were reported to be sleeping rough but could not be reached, so the true figure could have been as high as 67.
Nationally, the 2025 census, published in June 2026 across 101 local authorities, found around ten times as many women sleeping rough as official counts show. Nearly two thirds had slept in places the official count doesn’t look, or stayed awake all night to avoid violence and exploitation. In six areas where official counts recorded no women sleeping rough at all, the census found 162.
This matters because official figures shape where funding goes, which services get commissioned and how they are designed. If women aren’t in the data, they aren’t in the plans.
Hidden, transient, intermittent
Women’s rough sleeping looks different. Because being seen on the street is so unsafe, many women keep moving: riding buses all night, sitting in hospital waiting rooms, walking until morning, or staying with strangers just to have a roof, often at a very high price. It means they are far less likely to be seen, counted or offered help.
Gender-based violence is a near-universal experience for women who are homeless. Many have fled domestic abuse. Many face sexual exploitation, pressure to exchange sex for safety, mental ill health, substance use and the trauma of being separated from their children.
So why not simply go to a hostel? For many women it isn’t that simple. Being placed in a mixed hostel alongside men, sometimes including people who have harmed them, can feel unsafe and re-traumatising. In the 2024 national census, 365 women had been in homelessness accommodation before they ended up sleeping rough.
Our part in the census
Homeless Oxfordshire was one of the local organisations taking part, alongside OHM, the County Council, outreach teams and other partners. Our staff supported the survey with women who use our services and contributed to the shared picture of women known to local services, so that the county’s results are as complete as possible.
The census has shaped our own work before. Our Her Way Home appeal was built on what earlier findings told us. Thanks to everyone who gave, we bought a new eight-bed Women’s House in October 2025, doubling our women-only accommodation in Oxford.
Photo: Homeless Oxfordshire’s Women’s House
Our Women’s Project provides women-only accommodation with female staff and trauma-informed support: a safe space where women can lower their guard and begin to recover. We support women for as long as they need us, with one goal in mind: a home of their own.
That is real progress. But demand is still greater than the safe, women-only places available, and last week’s data will help us make the case for more.
What we want to see
The national findings are usually published the following summer, alongside local results. When they land, we want them to count. That means:
• A gender-informed definition of rough sleeping, so that women are counted wherever and however they are sleeping rough
• The census findings used to shape Oxfordshire’s homelessness strategy and commissioning, including under the new unitary authorities
• More women-only, trauma-informed accommodation and support across the county
• Sustained investment in specialist support that helps women move on safely into settled homes, including mental health, counselling and recovery services
How you can help
If you’re worried about a woman sleeping rough, contact StreetLink. It alerts local outreach teams so they can find her and offer support. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. Please consider donating to Homeless Oxfordshire, or organisations like ours that make a real difference to women’s lives in Oxfordshire.
