WoLF submitted the following testimony in support of LD 1238, An Act To Protect Women’s Single-sex Shelters

Sen. Anne Carney
Rep. Thom Harnett
Maine Committee on Judiciary

Lauren Adams
Legal Director, Women’s Liberation Front

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Support for  LD1238, An Act To Protect Women's Single-sex Shelters

Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) is a national radical feminist organization with members across the country (including in Maine) dedicated to defending the rights of women and girls. We strongly support LD1238, which exempts women’s shelters from the definition of “public accommodation,” because of the positive impact LD1238 will have on protecting the physical and emotional security of women and girls in Maine.

Women and girls make up almost forty percent of homeless persons in the US and, in the last year, unsheltered homelessness increased by twelve percent among women and girls, compared to only a seven percent increase among men. Not only is the number and proportion of women and girls who experience homelessness growing, but their experiences of homelessness are markedly different than that of men. Unlike men, women and girls’ vulnerability to homelessness and housing insecurity is highly associated with factors related to domestic violence and human trafficking ⁠— over half of homeless women and girls (56%) have been raped and even more (72%) are victims of physical assault, stalking, or other predatory behavior.

Given how many women and girls at shelters in Maine, and across the US, are survivors of physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence, trafficking, violent crime or other severe traumas — largely at the hands of men, it is unsurprising that so many women avoid mixed-gender shelters. Homeless women and girls understand through cruel experience that they are prime targets for abuse and assault.

Allowing men, regardless of how they identify, into women's and girl’s sleeping places would be highly traumatic for victims of violence, and would force women and girls to avoid the safe spaces that are supposed to protect them. Violence committed against women and girls by males at shelters, while under-reported, is endemic. For example, as a result of “Toby’s Law” in Canada, 37-year-old Christopher Hambrook was able to gain access to Toronto’s women’s shelters under the name “Jessica,” where he sexually assaulted multiple women in 2012. One of the court documents of the incidents read: “... her tights had been pulled down past her bottom and her bathing suit had been pulled to the side… she yelled at the accused, demanding to know what he was doing. He simply covered his face with his hands, said ‘Oops!’ and started giggling.” 

When states allow men to be housed in female shelters and “safe” houses, they are betraying the trust of the most vulnerable in society, and intentionally opening the door to violence and abuse. Policies granting men access to women’s shelters and safe places have no place in any society that values the physical and emotional well-being of victims of abuse. We urge the committee to pass LD1238 and protect Maine’s women and girls. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.