Central theme
The Working Group research themes are:

• gendered urban inequalities
• housing and intersectionality: how social relations of sex, race, class, disability and sexual orientation influence housing needs and housing situations
  discrimination based on social profile in access to housing
• gender and homelessness
• gendered violence and housing: what kind of impacts do gendered forms of violence have on access to housing, housing needs, and homelessness?
• public housing policies: what kind of specific attention do marginalised or vulnerable groups need when housing policies are being designed?
• the impact of social relations on residential paths and residential mobility
• housing innovation by marginalised or vulnerable groups (forced co-housing or participatory housing, self-management, occupation without permission)
• political dimension of housing in gendered struggles
• empowerment or resilience in contexts of homelessness or housing exclusion
• gendered aspects of housing production and the architecture and urban planning professions
• housing research using feminist methodologies and epistemologies
• methodological and epistemological implications of gender studies for housing studies.

Working Group motivations
Over the last few decades in Europe, issues related to gender inequalities have been largely invisible in Housing Studies, and similarly, Gender Studies still fails to integrate housing-related issues (built environment, public housing policies, city production professions). ENHR’s interdisciplinary “Gender & Housing” WG aims to remedy these shortcomings by bringing together researchers involved in Housing Studies working with feminist methodologies and epistemologies, and/or who carry out empirical work on minority groups or communities (women, LGBTQIA+, migrants, etc.). In the 70s, the second feminist wave chanted the slogan “the private is political”. Demands concerning women’s mental burden, work-life balance, domestic violence and reproductive rights emerged throughout Europe and the USA. Anglo-Saxon feminist geographers are taking up these issues, producing research that combines gender and housing issues. Does space produce or reproduce gender inequalities? How are spaces occupied and appropriated by members of the same household? How do social roles impact on how spaces are used?
In recent years, the media’s focus on feminist housing issues such as mental workload, work-life balance, the feminisation of poverty and domestic violence, has led to a renewed interest in analysing housing from a feminist perspective. The confinement associated with covid-19 has confirmed this trend and the urgency of analysing domestic space from a feminist perspective. The Housing & Gender WG intends to reconnect with overarching ENHR issues such as spatial justice, equity, inclusivity and socio-cultural diversity.

Future plans and activities
In Spring 2026, three more online seminars will be organised:
• 23 March: Hugo Soucaze, Emma Peltier & Quentin Brouard-Sala: The Queerness of Home
• 15 April: Claire Hancock, Joana Lages & Saila-Maria Saaristo: Methodologies for mapping and spatialising inequalities
• 29 May: Irène Berthonnet, Marta Malinverni & Chloé Salembier: Home-Work

In line with the ENHR programme:
• Spring: selection of abstracts and organisation of ENHR workshops in Oslo.

Policy implications
The Working Group maintains strong ties with research on gendered homelessness and housing policy. Some members are practitioners sharing their experiences with government, local authorities, or voluntary organisations involved in homelessness, housing, and social exclusion. Academic research on gendered homelessness and housing policy is also very relevant to those involved in shaping and implementing policy. The research discussed at the workshops covers both broad national policy issues and smaller, everyday challenges faced by case managers and similar professionals. The workshop exemplifies the close integration and ongoing influence between research and policy.

Other
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