Immigrant survivors of domestic violence face uphill journey with too few resources

THE RECENT NEWS that the U.S. homeless population jumped 18% in the last year, with California having a quarter of all homeless in the country, was startling and stark. Overshadowed was the fact that homelessness has steadily risen for the Latinx population in San Francisco, from 19% in 2019, to 30% in 2022, and 34% in 2024.

Women make up 40% of the people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco and 52% of them report also being survivors of domestic violence. Abuse rates for immigrant women alone are staggering, with nearly 50% of them experiencing violence at the hands of intimate partners. Taken in isolation these numbers are significant, but in real life immigrant survivors of domestic violence check off several boxes and are experiencing compounded impacts.