Citation

Bhattacharya P. J. Psychosexual Health 2022; 4(4): 223-226.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/26318318221108521

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Homelessness is globally acknowledged as a social evil. However, it is more prevalent and evident in low and low-middle-income countries like Nigeria, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, and so on. More than 150 million (2% of the total population) are homeless globally, with 1.6 billion lacking adequate housing.1 For statistical purposes, the United Nations defines homeless households as those

…households without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters. They carry their few possessions with them, sleeping in the streets, in doorways or on piers, or in any other space, on a more or less random basis.2

This definition is primarily an "accommodation-oriented" definition. At par with this definition, the Census of India (2001) defines the homeless as those households "who do not live in buildings or census houses but live in the open on roadside, pavements, in Hume pipes, under flyovers and staircases, or in the open in places of worship, mandaps, railway platforms, etc."
According to the Census 2011, India has 1.77 million homeless, accounting for 0.15% of the total population,3 which some researchers consider to be under-reporting "due to the lacunae in enumeration."4 The number of homeless people is highest in the metro cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai, respectively. Women make up 10% of this population...

Language: en