COH-AWH-What_Would_it_Take

1.4 INEQUITY & DISCRIMINATION
Young people reported experiencing inequity and discrimination
in various parts of their lives, both before and after becoming
homeless. Some youth experienced this inequity alongside their
family or community (e.g., poor medical care on Indigenous
reserves), while others had personal experiences (e.g., being
turned down for a job because of their sexual orientation).
Some discrimination was overt, such as police profiling. In other
cases, youth felt that discrimination was more insidious, such as
when agency’s forms or documents are not accessible to youth
with disabilities. Youth often experienced multiple forms of
discrimination and inequity at the same time, and these experiences
often layered together with structural factors and systems failures
to create barriers to escaping poverty and homelessness.
“In my experience,
when people find out,
‘Oh, you’re disabled,’
they don’t really want to
hire you because they
have to make all these
other expenses on the
company and therefore,
‘you’re going to be
more of a hassle than a
help to my company. So,
I can’t hire you.’”
ST. JOHN’S YOUTH
One of the most painful subjects for youth was experiences of discrimination from professionals
who were supposed to help them, such as nurses, social workers, and staff at shelters and social
services. Many youth described experiences of professionals discriminating against them on
the basis of age, disability, race, or mental health status. This was a particularly common theme
among youth in the child welfare system, some of whom reported being left in abusive and
neglectful homes because their social worker didn’t believe them due to their disability, age, or
mental health diagnosis. Youth described these experiences as deeply hurtful betrayals of trust.
Youth also frequently discussed being discriminated
against on the basis of class.
Youth were frequently turned away from jobs and housing because they were receiving social
assistance or living in a shelter, and some discussed their struggles to even exist in public spaces
without experiencing discrimination because they appeared poor.
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 54