Thousands of single homeless women are trying to cover up their plight, increasing their exposure to rape and violence, a survey has found.
The report by Crisis, the homeless charity, suggests that about 40 per cent of women do not seek help from an agency when they first become homeless and nearly 10 per cent never contact services at all.
Many attempt to remain invisible, hiding behind bins or in public lavatories, rather than sleeping in shop doorways where homeless charities go to look for new cases, the survey says.
Others engage in unwanted sexual liaisons to put a roof over their heads.
The women who refused to contact homeless services believed that the male-dominated night shelters were threatening and unsafe.
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Crisis said: “These women are hidden from view . . . As a result they are not accessing or receiving the vital help they so urgently need.”