Survival and Resistance: A Zine Study with Young Women and Femmes Experiencing Housing Injustice in Canadian Cities

Authors

  • Nicole Santos Dunn University of Toronto
  • Jeffrey Ansloos University of Toronto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v10i2.70842

Keywords:

housing injustice, women and femmes, resistance, public health, policy, arts-based research

Abstract

Housing injustice is a serious public health issue among young women and femmes (aged 18-24) in Canada but the research available on this topic seldom centres the voices of people with lived and living experience. This population is marginally visible in the shelter systems; instead their experiences may be described as “hidden homelessness”. This housing typology refers to situations where someone seeks shelter in ways like couch-surfing, car sleeping, or other short-term accommodations that are not typically recognized as responding to housing injustice. Drawing from a methodology of social constructionism, this paper reviews findings from an arts-based inquiry that sought to answer the research question, “what are the survival and resistance strategies that young women and femmes experiencing housing injustice use to support their wellness and engage with life?” Using reflexive thematic analysis, a zine was created and analyzed to reveal five themes: 1). Affective and Psychological Strategies of Resistance; 2). Survival Strategies and Behaviours to Ensure Material Survival; 3). Felt Knowledge About Good Living; 4). Organized Abandonment and Other Normed Chaos; and, 5). Importance of Human Connection, Solidarity, and Radical Care. The strengths and limitations, along with implications for public health policy and research are discussed. 

Author Biographies

Nicole Santos Dunn, University of Toronto

is a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She is a psychotherapist and has worked in suicide prevention and housing injustice research for the last eight years. 

Jeffrey Ansloos, University of Toronto

Ph.D., C.Psych., is Associate Professor of Indigenous Health and Social Policy and the Tier II Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Studies of Health, Suicide, and Environmental Justice at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. 

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Published

2024-08-21

How to Cite

Santos Dunn, N., & Ansloos, J. (2024). Survival and Resistance: A Zine Study with Young Women and Femmes Experiencing Housing Injustice in Canadian Cities. Engaged Scholar Journal: Community-Engaged Research, Teaching, and Learning, 10(2), 104–126. https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v10i2.70842

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