Breaking Siloed Policies: Applying a Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) to Homelessness during Pregnancy in Canada

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is an important topic of exploration and this piece rightly presents a range of statistics and other commentators noting the need for the inclusion of WGD voices in this area.

 

Sections 1, 2 and 3 are very well written providing good context and setting the scene for the scale of the issues relating to WGD and homelessness.  I would suggest that consideration is given to the role of substance use disorder and the role that plays in housing insecurity and homelessness as well as engagement with recovery pathways.  In addition, further space could be given to family and domestic violence experiences as leading to dynamic and nuanced pathways to homelessness.

 

Section 4 and 5 appear to be overly descriptive and could be much more dynamic. I would encourage the authors to revisit these sections. To revise them to reduce the levels of descriptive content. To try to discuss the themes that emerged from the event and the implications of the perspectives gained with suggested recommendations for next steps that relate to these areas.

Author Response

Please see the attached document

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

I’d like to express my gratitude for the opportunity to review this paper. I’d also like to commend the authors for discussing such an important (and understudied!) area within homelessness. My comments are minor and more structural to ensure that the paper flows well for the reader and that the contributions are therefore clear. Overall I think the paper will benefit from more clarification and description of the GBA+ framework and the findings/results that came from the Symposium.

 

-              The second section is titled “Gendered Homelessness: an Overview”. I’d suggest adding in “in Canada” here since all the literature and discussion is focused on the Canadian case.

-              The third section has a focus on Toronto (at least in most of the paragraphs). I’d suggest changing the title to depict that, and then starting with the second paragraph (on Canada’s history) and then moving into the Toronto case with the powerful first paragraph (followed by the rest of the section).

o   This section also ends of with some recommendations (including Housing First). I want to know more about how the problem is framed by service providers (have they also ignored the issue?) and advocates. I think a bit more could be added here in addition to more detail regarding “who” is making these recommendations (and how/why).

-              The fourth section jumps into the Symposium. More detail is needed on GBA+ and intersectionality for the reader to grasp the importance of the Symposium and to understand its purpose (this will also help given the lack of applications using GBA+!). GBA+ can be better described along with its history in the Canadian context.

o   World Cafes need to be better described for readers not familiar with the practice and how they are organized.

o   It would be helpful if the researchers added more findings from the symposium (perhaps in a separate section?). I’m left wanting to know what the recommendations came from the Symposium, what was discussed, what are the amin concerns and gaps, etc.

Author Response

Please see the attached document

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf