Thesis on homeless people's gendered experiences wins FSW Thesis Prize 2024
With her thesis 'Gendered Experiences and Homelessness Trajectories: An Anthropological Fieldwork Study in The Hague, the Netherlands', Elleke Schreur has won the FSW Thesis Prize 2024 and has also been nominated for the Leiden University Thesis Prize 2025. As part of the master's programme in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Elleke's research explores how the experiences of homeless people differ based on their gender.
An accurate reflection?
The idea behind her research arose five years ago when Elleke moved to The Hague and noticed the large number of homeless people throughout the city. 'I often wondered about their experiences and identities, what their lives looked like before becoming homeless, and how they managed to survive and endure their current circumstances.' What struck her was that the majority of them were men. 'Having always been fascinated by how gender shapes our lives and realities, I contemplated this supposed 'absence' of homeless women, and wondered whether the homeless people that are visible to society are an accurate reflection of the underlying reality.'
Making connections
For her research project, Elleke spent three months at different organizations in The Hague. The majority of her time she spent at Straat Consulaat and their coffee bar for homeless people, called Straat Bakkie. 'Here, I met most of my interlocutors, with whom I spent entire days "hanging out", drinking coffee, discussing things like the news, politics, spirituality, religion, their lives and lived experiences and mine. I became quite close with some of the people I met here.'
Besides spending time at Straat Bakkie, Elleke also visited homeless shelters and spoke with employees from the municipality of The Hague and different civil society organizations, such as JIT (Youth Intervention Team), SHOP (Foundation Support and Shelter Prostitution and Human Trafficking), VeiligThuis Haaglanden, Foundation Barka, Woodstock and Queer Mind Foundation.
The complexity of homelessness
Elleke wants to emphasize that homelessness is a very complex experience deeply influenced by gender. She argues that sexist ideas held by society and individuals within society affect homeless women and men greatly. 'I learned that homeless women are often primarily imagined and viewed as passive victims and always vulnerable, while homeless men are primarily imagined and viewed as agentic actors who are able to handle whatever they face.'
While homeless women face unique challenges, including a higher risk of gender-based and sexual violence—often at the hands of homeless men—they are not without agency. Just like homeless men, these women actively shape their own paths through homelessness. At the same time, homeless men are also extremely vulnerable and deserve the same level of care and compassion as homeless women.
A gender-sensitive approach
Elleke's research shows that the way in which our government and our society treat and care for homeless people desperately needs to be improved. A gender-sensitive approach is essential to understand how to effectively improve this care. She also discovered that for some, especially women, homelessness is often intertwined with domestic abuse, human trafficking, and sexual violence. 'This means that it is important to properly understand the ways in which these related experiences intersect in order to work towards a solution.'
Becoming an independent researcher with a personal style
Through the master's programme in Global Ethnography, Elleke has developed a certain level of independence and self-confidence. 'By having to design my own research and, in a way, having to figure many things out on my own during those three months, I learned a lot about myself academically, professionally, and personally.' She got the space to discover and develop her personal style of researching, making contact with people, and writing, which proved to be very valuable in the future.
What that future will look like? Perhaps something in the field of medical anthropology, particularly in relation to (gender) diversity. 'One of my aspirations is to work for an organization such as Doctors Without Borders as a (medical) anthropologist and researcher.'
Leiden University Thesis Prize 2025
The winners of the Leiden University thesis awards will receive their prizes from Professor Annetje Ottow, Chair of the Executive Board of the university, on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM in the Kamerlingh Onnes Building. You are welcome to join the festivities and can register through this form.