Premise one

The exploration of gender differences in shelter behaviour necessitates a detailed analysis of the relationship between women and shelter. Men's relationship to shelter, particularly as heads of households, is treated as axiomatic in most shelter studies, policies and strategies and is usually assumed to reflect shelter experience in general. If one is to explore possible gender differences in shelter experience it is the experience of women and their perceptions and priorities that needs to be brought into focus, so that a beginning can be made to seeing the whole of the picture.