Negotiating gendered risks and dilemmas in homelessness frontline practice

Women experiencing homelessness and multiple needs face persistent barriers in accessing housing, health and social care support. Despite growing interest in England in multi-disciplinary and Inclusion Health approaches to address health inequalities, service responses often remain fragmented, inconsistent, and inadequate. To navigate these challenges, many frontline practitioners working in homelessness services attempt to overcome barriers to services access and advocate for resources for clients. Drawing on ethnographic observations conducted in 2024–25 across a sample of English statutory and voluntary homelessness services, and 14 semi-structured interviews with practitioners within these services, this article examines frontline practitioners’ ‘risk work’ when responding to women experiencing homelessness and multiple needs; particularly how practitioners interpreted and operationalised gendered risk in homelessness services in order to advocate for access and minimise risks of harm. Despite women generally being understood as ‘vulnerable’ and at ‘high risk’ when homeless, gendered needs were often selectively recognised and addressed in services. Applying different strategies in risk minimisation and managing tensions between care, control, and organisational accountability, the frontline practitioners reported increasing constraints on their ability to take professional risks, therefore limiting the scope for discretionary practice and their ability to provide meaningful, needs-based support for women at risk of harm.